


Hajime no Ippo- Rising Star

by Zojen



Category: Hajime no Ippo | Fighting Spirit
Genre: Gen, Hajime no ippo - Freeform, No Slash, Original Characters - Freeform, POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-02-06 08:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 49,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1850929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zojen/pseuds/Zojen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every man and woman is destined to do something, you can run from your fate, try to deny it too, but in the end, it will catch up to you, and you'll find yourself fulfilling your destiny in ways you may not even expect</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New life

It was raining.

A long, boring, unwanted flight, and the first thing that happens upon arrival is a torrent of rain. Standing in the downpour, hunched up and using his jacket as a shield to the weather, his face hidden in the shadows of his clothing as he used his foot to keep his now soaked little suitcase near him.

“Great way to welcome your newest arrival japan” he muttered, his golden eyes glancing up from his jacket at the dark and cloudy sky.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure what to expect when he had decided to come to Toho. Sure, he got a job as a teacher in a high school, but his plans for living were half assed at best, as seen in the fact that he’d been standing out in the rain for over 2 hours now. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone to check the time, frowning at the fact that he had forgotten to change its time. Again.

“Ugh” he muttered as he slid the phone back in his pocket and glanced around

He was seriously considering getting a taxi or going on a bus or something when he heard the familiar tune of a bad rap artist. Blinking, he turned his head, glancing to the left as he saw a rickety old car chugging it’s way through the rain. Despite the horrible weather, the windows were wide open, and a grinning young man with very messy hair leaned his head out to wave at the man with the jacket, who’s golden eyes narrowed a bit before he sighed.

“EEEEY Zee my main man, wassup?” he asked in perfectish English as he stopped in front of the disgruntled man

Zee stared at him for a moment before sighing and rubbing his face.

“Binya, I had a terrible flight, hassle with my bag, and I’ve been waiting out here in the cold rain for who the hell knows how long” he said quietly as he picked his bag up and opened the back car door 

Binya blinked at him as he entered the car, before sighing and shaking his head.

“Real sorry to hear that man” said Binya in a sympathetic tone as he turned the radio off, letting Zee’s poor ears rest as he sat back on the car chair  
“It’s okay it’s okay” Zee said quietly, taking his jacket off from over his head, letting his blond hair fall down to it’s natural length at his shoulders, a few locks falling down on his forehead, staying in stark contrast to his black skin “Why were you so late anyway?”  
“You know, stuff” Binya said with a small shrug, starting the car up and beginning to drive down the road as smoothly as he could

Zee watched the road through Binya’s rather dirty windshield before his eyes shut a little bit and he leaned his head against the cool glass of the window next to him, folding his arms tightly. When he said he had a terrible flight, he wasn’t kidding. 13 hours with a fatso deciding it polite to slumber upon him and get drool in his hair can drain the energy of anyone. 

His job started tomorrow, and he’s had over a day with no sleep. But, even if he wanted to sleep, his worry far outweighed his fatigue. Shutting on eye fully, he stared out the window at the rainy Toho streets, staring up at the buildings towering above him. To be honest, it wasn’t that different to his hometown, New York was a city that never sleeps after all, though he didn’t think it looked so miserable in the rain.

Or maybe he was the miserable one. Right now, he couldn’t tell.

“Hey, Zee” said Binya up front in a quiet tone “While you were flying over, your sister told me, about your mom”

Zee looked to Binya slowly, looking at his reflection in the rearview mirror. He frowned more before shutting his eyes and slowly nodding.

“Let’s not talk about that please” he said while squeezing both of his eyes shut and covering his head with his jacket. 

Binya’s frown grew deeper and he glanced back to Zee for a moment before shaking his head slowly and putting his shades back on.

“Poor guy” he thought while putting a cigarette in his mouth and pulling out a lighter “Hope the guy finds something worth living for here”

\---the next day---

Zee was awoken by a loud cacophony of clattering pots and pans outside his door, soon followed by the words “AH SHIT, FUCKING DAMN IT SUNUVABITCH!” in rather raunchy Japanese. Frowning, he opened one eye to stare around the tiny room he was currently lying in. From what he could hear, it was still raining, but now sunlight was creeping in through the tiny gap in the only window’s curtains. 

Well, this certainly wasn’t the wake up call he was expecting. Groaning, he moved one hand and placed it flat against the futon he was laying on, pushing himself up into a sitting position as swearing continued to come from beyond the door.

“The hell is going on out there” he thought as he got to his feet and went towards the door, stepping over his bag and jacket that had been laid next to him.

He was half sure on what he’d expect when he opened the door, Binya with yet another mess on his hands. Instead, when he opened the door he got a frying pan straight to the forehead.

“OW!?” he yelled in half pain, half surprise as he stumbled backwards  
“Holy crap sorry man, you okay!?” exclaimed a rather worried Binya (Wearing weird loose pink pajamas), who was trying to carry some pots and pans towards the kitchen  
“I just got. A frying pan. To the face.” Replied Zee bluntly as he held one hand to the bump on his forehead and picked up the frying pan with the other “The hell are you doing anyway?”  
“Well there was a bunch of leaks in my room, so I wanted to use these to catch the water you know?” he explained as he went through a door and into the kitchen

Sighing, Zee followed him in and was greeted with a rather horrifying sight. The kitchen was a complete mess, with half finished ramen on the dirt covered table, unwashed plates and bowls lying all over the counter, and pictures of half naked women laying strewn across the walls.

Zee took one good look at the kitchen, his face staying neutral, before he looked to Binya, who chuckled sheepishly.

“…Binya” said Zee as he leaned the frying pan against his shoulder  
“Yeah?” he asked with a nervous grin  
“I understand I should be grateful, since you’re letting me stay here” he said quietly, before gesturing around the room with the frying pan “But, I really do need to ask, how in the hell do you survive in these conditions. I’m half afraid to look at the rest of your apartment.”  
“Well you know me, I’ve survived tougher” he snickered

Zee stared at him for a moment before suddenly lunging forward and whacking him over the head with the frying pan.

“OW! The hell was that fo-“ he began to say before Zee pointed the frying pan at Binya’s mouth to shut it  
“You hit my head first” he replied while tilting his head “Anyway, what time is it”

Binya sighed and snatched the frying pan from his grasp before glancing at his clock through squinted eyes “It’s 5 in the morning man, don’t worry, you got time before work, I think” he said while adjusting his pajama top

“5 in the morning?” asked Zee before running his hand through his tangled hair “Thought I’d be late, that’s a relief, at least I have a couple of hours” 

He sighed and held the back of his head while walking out of the room to go get ready. Binya watched him go before glancing up at the clock, now not distracted by his headache. It was actually 6:40. He blinked, opening his mouth, when he heard the sound of running water.

“…whoops” he muttered 

\---5 minutes later---

“I SWEAR TO GOD BINYA NEXT TIME I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” screamed Zee at the top of his lungs as he sprinted down the street as fast as his legs would let him, adjusting his tie as he did  
“Sorry man!” yelled Binya, who was currently running the opposite way, pulling on his shoes as he did.

Jesus Christ, his first day, HIS FIRST DAY and he was already late. This is almost cliché, all he was missing was bread in his mouth. Swiftly weaving through the crowd and buttoning up his jacket, he rapidly made his way towards the school. About 20 minutes later, the crowds around him began to lessen and the area became more and more suburban. The streets were narrower and there were fences surrounding houses, and he stopped at a cross road leading 3 different ways. He was getting closer, good, but…which way?

He had no idea. 

Panting deeply, he hunched over, his hair falling around his face as he looked around slowly. There needed to be some way that he could get to the school, someway, someway, someway. After a few precious moments went by, he was able to get up straight and looked around, maybe if he chose a random direction? No that’s too risky. He took a deep breath before sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

“Damn it, if anyone’s up there I need a sign, something that could get me to sch-“

As if someone was above listening, he felt someone slam straight into his side, knocking the wind right out of his lungs and sent him sprawling across the floor, moaning in pain.

“Hey, watch it!” yelled a voice as he heard footsteps swiftly rushing past him

Who the hell was tha?- PINK POKADOTS

Zee’s eyes widened as he ended up seeing something a teacher shouldn’t as a teenage girl in a school uniform ran right over him. Well, not exactly what he was expecting. Ignoring the faint red blush on his cheeks, he got to his feet and adjusted his suit jacket. 

“This is going to be weird” he thought as he began to follow her.

Five minutes later, he was finally at school. And only 15 minutes late, according to his phone. Welp, the ends justify the means. Adjusting his jacket once more, he exhaled before walking in amongst the many students towards the school.

Finding his designated classroom was, thankfully, significantly more easy than finding the school itself. He didn’t have to stalk a poor girl to get there for one thing. Though, he had a feeling that once he got to the class, things wouldn’t be so easy. 

Stopping in front of his classroom door, he felt his palms go a little clammy as he attempted to adjust his tie, listening to the ruckus within his class as he did. After a few minutes, he took a deep breath before pushing the door open and waking in with as much of an air of authority as possible.

And that was the second time he got hit over the head when something large and metal slammed right onto his head, the shock being enough to send him sprawling across the floor, his ears ringing.

“OOooooooooooooh!” exclaimed many from the classroom before they all erupted into laughter

Zee blinked before slowly sitting up, staring at the bucket that had smacked into his forehead at what felt like terminal velocity.

“Not. Funny.” He said bluntly under his breath, forcing himself up and adjusting his suit jacket before walking into the class “I’d rather that not happen again. Now, everyone settle down”

The class’ snickering died down, and some looked disappointed, they probably expected him to blow up from having to suffer through such a prank, but really, he had already blown up at Binya when he received a frying pan to the face, he wasn’t in the mood to emotionally explode after that.

“Now class, as some of you may’ve heard, I’m your new English teacher and homeroom teacher, Zee Mutou, you may refer to me as Mutou Sensei or Mr. Mutou, either or-“ he said with gestures, that is, until he was interrupted by a girl saying “Didn’t I see you on the way here?” 

Zee blinked before looking at the girl, frowning a little bit. She seemed old, at least 19, with her brown hair in a braid behind her, the tone similar to her tanned skin. Was she the girl? He couldn’t be sure, considering he hadn’t seen her hair and only what was under her skirt.

“Maybe” he said with a shrug “Anyway-“  
“I saw you following me here you know” she said with a frown before pointing at him accusingly “Are you a stalker?”  
“Wha-? No I had to follow you because I didn’t know the way here” he explained in a rushed manner  
“So you admit to following her!?” exclaimed another one of the students  
“Pervert Mutou? Our teacher is a stalking pervert?” asked another  
“I am not a-“ began Zee, but his words were more or less ignored as the class began to speak amongst themselves on how Zee was apparently a stalker pervert.

What a wonderful way to set a first impression.

\---12 hours later---

Zee sighed, sitting at his desk in his classroom with his head resting on his desk. He never imagined teaching English would be easy, especially in japan. But being accused of being a stalker pervert, being quizzed about his hair colour, having to deal with the rowdy ruckus of the classroom was enough to drive him crazy. And this was just his first day.

“At least the pay’s okay” he muttered as he pulled his phone out and placed it on his desk, sitting up a bit while looking around his empty classroom, evening sun pouring in through the windows and covering the room in an orange glow “Maybe I should just relax in here, not sure if I want to just head right ba-“

“Heeeey Z-man!” exclaimed Binya as he strolled on in, wearing a blue and purple track suit  
Zee blinked many times at that, giving Binya a look.  
“Binya? What’re you doing here?” asked Zee, slurring a little bit while rubbing his eyes  
“Was doing some running so I thought I’d come seeya at your job” replied Binya, stepping in place while looking around the classroom “You doing okay?”  
Zee blinked before leaning back slowly and folding his arms, shutting his eyes a little bit.

“…I don’t know” he said after a few moments, looking towards Binya quietly  
“Well you did just travel from new york and, stuff happened before you left” said Binya with a small shrug  
Zee looked to Binya before looking out the window next to him, frowning a bit while linking his fingers in front of his mouth and leaning on his desk, shutting one eye while shaking his head. Binya blinked before frowning aswell and face palming.

“Sorry man should not have brought that up” sighed Binya  
“Mhm” said Zee quietly  
“You shouldn’t just sit around in one place, get moving get active!” exclaimed Binya, trying to be enthusiastic “It’ll help you get your mind off it”

Zee stayed silent for a moment before turning his head to look at Binya.  
“Bin, I came here because I wanted to start afresh, anew” he said in almost a whisper  
“I knoooow that” said Binya with a nod, going towards Zee and putting his hand on his shoulder “Which is why I think you need to forget man. Come on, let’s go eat something to celebrate your first day on the job huh?”

Zee shut his eyes for a moment before nodding slowly.  
“That sounds…nice”


	2. Watching an execution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending a month in japan with no progress, Binya decides to take Zee to watch a boxing match

It took him longer than he expected, but Zee was finally getting the hang of his new daily routine. He had been in japan for about 4 weeks so far, and he had to say, life was harder than he thought it’d be. Being a teacher was not easy, especially one who wasn’t exactly fluent in Japanese yet. Thankfully, after scolding Binya, he had managed to get the apartment clean enough for him to feel somewhat comfortable. 

And now he sat in the apartment living room, lounging in front of the T.V while marking a rather terrible English essay with his eyes narrowed.

“This isn’t even English…this is freaking Spanish” he muttered as he wrote a big fat zero at the corner of the paper and tossed it onto the coffee table, sighing and shaking his head in utter annoyance

He was about to grab another one of his student’s papers when he heard the front door open and slam shut, as well as the sound of groaning and panting. 

“Oi today was tough” sighed Binya loudly in Japanese, his footsteps making the floorboards creak  
“Out running again?” asked Zee as he picked his marker and another paper up  
“No no, full training this time” said Binya in english as he strolled into the living room

Zee glanced over to Binya to see he wasn’t wearing his tracksuit top as usual, instead he was wearing a sleeveless shirt with his towel wrapped around his neck, revealing his incredibly toned arms… He promptly glanced at his own rather average arms before rubbing the bridge of his nose and continuing to mark the papers.

“It was rather tough, thanks for asking” continued Binya as he walked back out of the room  
“I didn’t ask” he replied, continuing to mark the papers

Binya looked towards Zee for a moment before tossing his sweaty towel at Zee’s neck, making him flinch and snap round to look at him.

“The hell!?” snapped Zee  
“You’re always so boring and moody” replied Binya in a matter of fact tone as he picked his towel up from the couch Zee was sitting on “I know what happened before you came here, but that doesn’t mean you can just lounge about the place all miserable”  
“I’m not miserable” he replied, giving Binya an annoyed look  
“You haven’t smiled in over a month!” exclaimed Binya “If that doesn’t spell misery I have no idea what will.”

Zee blinked a little at that, glancing to the side a little bit. Had he really not smiled in over a month? He couldn’t be sure really, but with the turmoil he left behind in America, and the stressful job he’s been doing near non-stop for the past 4 weeks, he wouldn’t be surprised. He stared at his paper for a moment before sighing and dropping it on the coffee table.

“Don’t remind me” he said while shaking his head

Binya watched him silently before sighing and sitting down on the couch next to him, running his hand through his hair.

“You need a break from work” Binya said plainly while looking towards Zee

Zee looked over to Binya before shaking his head slowly, though he seemed to be considering it somewhat, his eyes shut for a while. 

“If I take a break off of work, what’ll I do?” he asked  
“Weeeeell” said Binya with a smirk while tapping the side of his nose “You’ll just have to see, take a break tomorrow and I’ll show you something”

Zee opened his eyes and glanced towards Binya 

“Tomorrow’s Sunday, there’s no school on that day anyway” he said, raising an eyebrow  
Binya blinked “Wait, what day is it today?” he asked  
“…Saturday” replied Zee, giving him an “are you serious?” expression

Binya swiftly leaped to his feet and sprinted out of the room, yelling “SHIT SHIT SHIT I’M LATE!”  
“Late for what?” asked Zee, glancing behind him  
“Datedatedatedate” explained Binya in a rushed tone, changing out of his sweaty clothes while stumbling about the apartment 

Zee glanced at him with a raised eyebrow before getting to his feet and watched Binya trip over his own jeans and slam face first into the front door.  
“Ow” he groaned as he pushed himself off the door and pulled his jeans on fully, quickly opening the door and slamming it shut behind him

“…Sometimes I worry about that man” muttered Zee with a small shake of his head, hearing Binya struggle down the steps, swearing as he went

He listened to this for a few more moments, before he frowned and glanced to the side a bit. Tapping his fingers against his shorts, Binya’s words went through his mind. Had he really not smiled in over a month? His frown grew even deeper and he went into the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror.

He was growing some light blonde stubble, and his hair was tied in a messy pony tail behind him. His eyes looked tired and he had bags under his eyes. He really did look miserable. 

Shaking his head a little bit, he tried to smile a little bit. It looked so force he instantly dropped it.

\---The next day---

Zee was never one for loud noises really. Sure he spent a majority of his life in New York, almost always when it was loud as hell no less, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Thus, he was rather skeptical about whether or not he’d enjoy what Binya had in mind when he dragged him across the city to a large arena of sorts with a massive crowd around it.

“Binya, what the hell is this?” asked Zee loud enough for him to hear amongst the heavy throng and noise of those around

Binya, who was wearing a more casual clothing than his usual tracksuit he saw him in (though he had the words NICE ASS, plastered upon his white t-shirt in red kanji), looked towards Zee with a sly grin while showing him two tickets.

“This is here is one of the biggest arenas in Japan, the Yokohoma arena” he explained in an equally loud tone “A really big boxing match is happening here today, we’re going to see it to cheer you up a bit.”  
“What.” Replied Zee, his eyes narrowed “Why on earth would I want to do that, Bin, you kn-“  
“I know I know!” exclaimed Binya while grasping Zee’s wrist and yanking him along through the crowd “Just trust me alright!? Besides, I can’t really refund these tickets”  
“Your money to waste not mine!” snapped Zee, but he didn’t really resist being yanked about, Binya was going through the trouble of trying to cheer him up, may as well humor him

Sighing, he shut his eyes a little, a small frown spreading across his face as he began to listen to the throng around him. It seemed they were chanting a name, Ma, Mas, Mashiba? 

Who’s Mashiba?

Opening his eyes, he glanced around at the crowd around, noticing that multiple were dressed in pitch black, with the word “executioner” plastered across their shirt. Is Mashiba one of the boxers? He certainly hadn’t heard of him before, then again, he hadn’t been interested in boxing since he had arrived.

But, for some reason, the way how people were chanting his name, their shirts, and just the overall atmosphere made him shiver from the pit of his stomach. While he wasn’t planning on getting to into Japanese boxing, he had a feeling he was in for a show.

30 minutes later, Bin and Zee sat amongst thousands and thousands of people, and he could swear that it was louder inside than it was outside. 

“Well then” muttered Zee under his breath, taking in the atmosphere as he stared around  
“So, not regretting you came eh?” snickered Binya while nudging Zee’s ribs

Zee gave him a very skeptical look.

“Not regretting it as much as you thought you would?” he asked with a nervous chuckle

Zee held the skeptical look, raising an eyebrow aswell. In response Binya elbowed the top of his head while yelling “Don’t be so pessimistic!”  
“Stop hitting me like that!” snapped Zee in response while grasping Binya by his nose and twisting, making him flail a tiny bit

Before this fight could get any further, the lights in the arena dimmed down, and the heavy noises of the crowd began to fade off, leaving the giant stadium in a rather eerie silence. Seeing this, the feeling of nervousness began to ebb from his lower stomach again, and he narrowed his eyes, staring at the illuminated ring. Why was he so nervous? Did this Mashiba guy really have that effect?

Zee leaned forward, staring at the ring still, while Binya rubbed his hands together while grinning.  
“Oh this is going to be gooood” he whispered

For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence, but then, rather dark and eerie music began to play from all around, quiet at first, but getting louder and louder, it’s deep base line and dark tones reverberating and making the seats vibrate to the rhythm. As the music played, people began to chant again, getting louder and louder “Ma, shi, ba! Ma, shi, ba!”

“That name again” thought Zee with narrowed eyes, taking a close look at the area around the ring. 

As the chanting and music became louder and louder, a spotlight suddenly flashed down upon the left corner of the arena, down near two sets of doors.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” boomed a loud Japanese voice, who’s words echoed across the arena, near muting the sounds of chanting “PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE OPBF LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION, THE EXECUTIONER, THE MAN WITH OVER 40 WINS AND ONLY 2 LOSSES, MASHIBAAAAAA RYOUUUUUUU”

At this the crowd went wild, cheering and clapping while Binya yelled out loud cheers himself as he raised his arms. Zee raised an eyebrow at Binya, rolling his eyes a little bit, before looking back at where he was staring earlier, the champion’s corner of the stadium, wondering what this Mashiba would look like. 

He half expected a really buff and muscular man with the face of a bull, instead he saw a man wearing a black robe, it’s hood pulled over his face to hide it. The only visible part of the man Zee could see from his distance was his blood red boxing gloves and boots. As the hooded figure silently made his way towards the ring with three men following him (his seconds most likely), a second spotlight pointed to a set of doors on the opposite side of the hall.

“AND THE NEWEST CHALLENGER, COMING ALL THE WAY FROM NIGERIA, CHIZI OKUNBO! WITH A CLEAN SLATE OF 20 WINS, WILL THIS NEWEST CHALLENGER FINALLY BRING DOWN THE EXECUTIONER, OR WILL HE BE YET ANOTHER VICTIM!?”

This time, Zee’s expectations were met rather well, as a hulking man in green and white shorts jogged out with three men following him swiftly, a confident smile on his face. Judging from his bravado, and his rather toned muscles, Zee saw that he really was used to winning, and was willing to train to keep doing so, though, how such a huge guy was considered lightweight was beyond him. 

“Ohoho that guy’s going to get owned” snickered Binya while rubbing his hands together  
“What makes you say that?” asked Zee, glancing to Binya “This Mashiba guy may be a champion, but he’s lost twice, this Nigerian guy hasn’t lost at all”  
“Pfft, let me tell you about one of Mashiba’s losses” said Binya as the two fighters went towards the ring “Mashiba was fighting someone before he became the OPBF champion, Sawamura something, and when he fought, they both committed so many fouls they would’ve both been disqualified had Mashiba not punched Sawamura so hard he knocked him out of the ring”  
“A ring out?” asked Zee in disbelief  
“Trust me. Mashiba is not someone to take lightly at all” said Binya with a swift nod

Zee wasn’t really sure how to react to this knowledge, one thing’s for sure, Japanese boxing was definitely different to the boxing he was once used to. Back at the ring, the fighters and their seconds had finally entered, and Mashiba and Chizi faced off directly, staring right at each other as they went to the middle of the ring so the referee could speak to them.

Seeing him clearly in that black robe made Zee shiver a little bit, he wasn’t going to lie, he was scared, but Chizi stared right at him without wavering, his smile gone but his eyes very much alive. 

Below, on the ring, Chizi stared right at Mashiba, they were about the same height but Chizi was severely more muscular. However, while he couldn’t see Mashiba’s face through the hood, he saw his eyes very clearly, and they stared at him, as if to say “I am going to kill you.” Kill him huh? 20 people haven’t even come close yet, he’ll see if this so called “Executioner” could defeat him.

Once the referee stopped talking, Chizi was about to turn around, when Mashiba suddenly grasped his cloak. The sound of tearing cloth was audible all around the stadium as he ripped his cloak straight off, revealing his rather lean, but still intimidating body, his long hair that went down past his shoulders and his hardened features, but more importantly, his cold and hardened expression. Despite himself, Chizi found himself taking a step back, that expression…it was that of a man who wasn’t even trying to be cocky, he didn’t just think he’d kill Chizi. He knew he would. It was almost as if the man gave off a dark aura of sorts that made him…scared. The match hadn’t even started and he was suffering from the pressure.

“HA! Look at the man shiver in his boots! That’s Mashiba for you!” yelled someone from the crowd  
“Maybe you should go back home, save yourself the embarrassment!” yelled another  
“Yeah, keep talking Japan, I’ll show you soon” muttered Chizi as he went back to his corner, ignoring the fact that he could sense Mashiba staring at him still.

“He’s trying to intimidate you Chizi, ignore him, focus on the match ahead” said one of his seconds while climbing out of the ropes  
“Yeah, don’t give him any space to try those tactics on you again, rush him and show him the power of an indestructible man!” exclaimed the other second

Chizi looked at them for a moment before smiling and nodding. He had no reason to be afraid, he hadn’t had any trouble in the ring for 3 years, no way would he be beaten now. Turing on his heel, he faced Mashiba and planned to stare at him again, but Mashiba wasn’t even looking, he was staring at the corner post, his hands by his side. He was letting his guard down? Was it a taunt? A tactic? He wasn’t sure, but when that gong rang, he’d show the executioner the power of the indestructible.

Mashiba meanwhile slowly raised his hands and grasped the ropes around the ring, his gloves squeaking somewhat as he shut his eyes and waited. He had heard what was said, an indestructible man? How stupid. Nothing was indestructible; he’ll have to teach this foreigner that very lesson. 

And with that thought, the gong rang, and the entire crowd went quiet.

Chizi immediately rushed forward, his feet causing the ring to shake as he burst forward at a near incredible speed, in the seats above, Binya let out an impressed whistle and Zee leaned forward even more, tilting his head. Chizi reached Mashiba almost immediately and, using the force from his momentum, he swung a massive right hook right towards his liver.

CRACK

Chizi’s eyes widened as pain pulsated up his entire arm, staring as his fist found itself lodged in Mashiba’s pointy elbow, and he had to suppress the urge to yell out as Mashiba turned his head to stare at Chizi, his eyes keeping their cold expression. Growling, Chizi hopped backwards before raising his hands in an orthodox fighting stance, rushing in was a bad mistake, he’d have to be more careful, had he been more reckless Mashiba would’ve killed his right in the first few seconds.

Exhaling through his nose, Mashiba turned to face Chizi, his right arm up and covering his body but, his left arm was bent at the elbow 90 degrees and swaying from left to right in a steady rhythm, almost as if it were a scythe. What kind of stance was that? To be sure, Chizi had no idea, but if he kept his distance and watched him, maybe he cou-

SLAM. 

Mashiba’s fist suddenly slammed straight into Chizi’s nose, sending his head flying backwards before more and more hits came, hitting his body over and over, the sharp punches slashing across his face before he was able to raise his guard and back up, growling. What the hell was he hit with? A jab? A straight? He was hit so fast he didn’t even see!

“He hit him from that distance?” muttered Zee in disbelief “with a flicker jab no less?”  
“His reach man” explained Binya, pointing to Mashiba as he returned to his stance, watching Binya closely “He’s using his arm as if it were a whip, making his punches real sharp while hitting him with those fast flicker jabs. I don’t think anyone in Nigeria would’ve used that style, must be a first for him”  
“It’s definitely a first for me” muttered Zee

Mashiba’s arm swayed left to right while he hopped on the balls of his feet, a smirk drawing across his face as he watched Chizi. Chizi meanwhile saw this smirk quite clearly, and he growled even more, he was being toyed with. No way was he going to let that happen, he just needed to get in cl-

The flicker jab slammed right into his stomach, making his eyes widen as he nearly bent over from the blow in surprised, but he kept his guard up and began to be pelted again and again with those hits. Now that he was paying more attention, he saw through his guard that he was being hit with flicker jabs, but from so far away, how the hell was he going to reach him…

His eyes narrowed as he took a step backwards, feeling his guard begin to loosen from the constant barrage. He needed room to breath and figure things out, he couldn’t overwhelm him like he usually did his opponents. So, he took a step back, then another, and another, until he felt something press against his back. Blinking, he looked around to see he was currently pinned right against the neutral right corner, with Mashiba watching him rather closely, edging forward as he did.

What the hell. He had never been in this kind of position before, he usually beat the hell out of his opponents the old fashioned way, text book over whelming technique. But he needed to get close to do that, and Mashiba wasn’t letting him close at all. On the contrary, he just shoved him right into a corner without him noticing!

“Enough of this” growled Chizi, crouching down as he prepared to lunge forward  
“CHIZI! BE CAREFUL! DON’T LOWER YOUR GUARD!” yelled his second  
“Wha-?” asked Chizi before looking at his guard…that was currently over his body

What in the- SLAM. A fist collided with his chin and rocketed him back into a standing position. An uppercut, but a left? A right? Had to be right, it hurt like all hell. Recovering quickly, Chizi took his guard again, blocking flicker jabs that came for him, but as the seconds ticked away, and the barrage of blows continued, Chizi found his guard lowering again, his entire arms shaking from the effort.

“Nonono not now! Guard up!” he thought as he tried to yank his guard up

But it was to no avail, as suddenly a flicker jab slammed clean into his nose, between the eyes, hitting again and again and again before Mashiba suddenly smashed his right fist into Chizi’s forehead in a hook, knocking him against the ropes. 

Chizi blinked, his vision going blurry as he slowly sank down the ropes, falling to his knees. Him, down from only two rights? Impossible. Impossible! Yet, there he was, on his knees, half tangled in the ropes while Mashiba stared at him, a half sadistic smile across his face.

“Mashiba! Neutral corner!” ordered the referee while running towards Chizi

Mashiba gave the referee a dark look before doing as he was told, turning to face the down Chizi while folding his arms.

“Jesus Christ” muttered Zee, his hand rubbing under his nose as he watched in utter surprise  
“I told you, Mashiba is not one you should underestimate!” exclaimed Binya  
“He took him out in only two minutes” muttered Zee, glancing at the clock “Just how powerful…is that man?”  
“Very” replied Binya

On the ring, Chizi’s ears rang, but he could faintly hear a count. 

3….4….5…

So he really was down, just from a barrage of lefts and two rights…what the hell was this guy?

…6…7…8

Oh right…the count…wait, 8!?

Before the referee could continue counting, Chizi grasped the referee by the shirt and the rope of the ring, before forcing himself up to his feet and shaking his head to clear it. 

“Chizi, fighting st-“ began the referee, but as Chizi raised his arms up, Mashiba suddenly shoved the referee out of the way, staring at Chizi again, only this time, he stared down at the crouching and weak man, his guard not even raised.

The hell is Mashiba doing? No. He’s up close, his range, all he had to do was move. 

Yes, he just had to move, and move he did, swinging his right fist straight towards Mashiba’s ja- 

Mashiba’s fist slammed cleanly into Chizi’s throat as Chizi’s fist went by where Mashiba’s head had been a second before he had tilted it to the right. Chizi’s eyes widened and he stumbled against the ropes, grasping his neck while choking. Mashiba watched him, about to raise his fist for another swing, when the round gong rang, signifying the end of round one. 

Mashiba gave Chizi a simple look of contempt before walking back towards his corner before the referee could even give him an order. Chizi meanwhile grasped his neck while coughing. He wasn’t just countered, Mashiba managed to get his fist past his chin and slammed it into his neck…it was almost as if his larynx was punched close, he could barely breathe.

“Chizi! Come over here!” yelled his second

Chizi looked towards his second, slowly nodded and took one step forward before collapsing right into the floor. Mashiba, who was standing and taking some water offered to him by his second, didn’t even turn around as the referee checked on Chizi, before signaling for the match to finish. Chizi was down and he wasn’t going to get up any time soon.

At that moment, many people in the crowd cheered, some were shocked into silence at Mashiba’s brutal finish, and some were just impressed. 

Zee was a mixture of the last two. Mashiba was incredibly skilled, but he was brutal, he didn’t hold back at all, in fact, he almost reminded him of…

“Binya, let’s go” said Zee as he got to his feet suddenly  
“Wha- but why?” asked Bin with a frown  
“I don’t want to be here anymore” he replied bluntly with a shake of his head

Binya stared up at him for a moment before sighing and getting up to his feet aswell and stretching

“You can head off if you want, I’ve got to see some people first alright?” he said before tilting his head “If you want, you can come with”  
“I just want to go to sleep right now” he muttered 

Binya frowned before sighing and nodding.

“Sorry for bringing you I guess, I’ll see you later then” said Binya as he sat back down

Zee nodded, before making his way out of the stadium.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's chapter 2. I actually love to write fight scenes, and it's been a while since i've written one though. I spent a few hours watching Mashiba's fighting style to try and portray it right (hopefully I did)


	3. Binya's reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zee is still struggling with his past, having been reminded by Mashiba's swift beat down of his opponent in his last match, however, as he does so, he discovers something Binya had been keeping from him

He could feel the wet mud under his hands and knees, his face and hair caked with mud as he stared at his reflection in the water, and before his very eyes, the water turned red. And then he heard the gunshot.

Zee’s eyes snapped awake and he sat up swiftly, looking around while rubbing spittle from his mouth. He wasn’t in the mud, he was sitting in his empty classroom, the sounds of many footsteps outside his classroom door as the students headed home after the end of the school day. 

He sighed, about to go back to sleep when he flinched at the sound of another bang, this one coming from his classroom door.

“…Come in?” he asked, raising an eyebrow

The door promptly opened up and the girl with braided hair leaned her head in through the door.

“Can I come in hentai sensei?” she asked in english (except for the hentai sensei)  
“Mutou sensei” he corrected before laying his head back down on the desk and gesturing for her to enter while saying “Come in Koji”

Koji nodded before heading on in and going to her desk, grabbing a few books and papers that she seemed to have forgotten. As she packed up her stuff, Zee’s mind went back to the match he had watched two days ago that Saturday. That Mashiba. His flicker jabs went through his mind ever since that day, but his final punch, the punch to the throat, always sent shivers down his spine. What’s worse is that from what Binya had told him, Mashiba had nearly sent him into a coma from lack of oxygen. 

“Hentai sensei, what’s wrong?” asked Koji in a worried tone

Zee blinked before slowly looking towards Koji.

“Just tired” he replied before sitting up straight “Stressful job”  
“It’s half because you’re only 23, and half because-“ she began to say  
“I’m a pervert teacher?” he finished  
“Exactly” she replied

At that Zee just let his face fall flat on his desk.

“You know I’m just joking” she snickered while placing her hand on his desk and leaning forward  
“That’s not why I’m so stressed right now” sighed Zee while leaning back in his chair “What’s up?” she asked while sitting down on his desk

Zee raised an eyebrow, still not really sure if he could trust her, since she was the one who had started his reputation as a pervert (the fact that he always ended up in lewd positions when people fall on him or vice versa never helped that reputation), but over the 4 weeks he’s known her, she’s been kind of okay. Emphasis on kind of.

“Just a bit shaken, watched a boxing match on Saturday” he explained  
“The 20th defense for the OPBF lightweight belt?” asked Koji  
“Yes, wait, how do you know?” he asked  
“Watched the match, duh” she said with a small shrug “Never took you to be a fan of boxing”  
“I’m not” he said with a swift shake of his head  
“I know, you’re kinda boring like that,” she said before getting off the desk and turning to face him “Anyway, if you’re not really a fan of boxing, then that final blow from Mashiba would probably scare you”

Zee nodded, rubbing his neck with a frown.  
“More or less” he said before looking towards her “I’d rather not watch another match, that last punch was not pleasant to watch”  
“Pfft, welp” she said while picking up another book from her desk “Try to find something that can take your mind off it. Maybe you could go buy some ero-magazines to curb your thoughts eh hentai sensei?”  
“You keep calling me that and I’ll give you an F on your next paper” replied Zee while raising an eyebrow  
“Oh no you won’t” she chuckled before leaving the classroom, shutting it carefully behind her.

Zee watched her go before sighing and getting to his feet, he should start heading back home as well. 

\---20 minutes later---

As he walked through the streets of Toho, his briefcase in hand, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully while glancing at the sky, his mind wandering back to the match he had watched. He really needed to get that damn fight out of his mind, everytime he shut his eyes, he could see that throat punch and Chizi’s expression. But every time his mind wandered he could remember clearly the pure skill Mashiba had exhibited during that match, it was almost…incredible.

Zee shook his head and leaned against a wall, running a hand through his hair before grasping it tightly, burying his face in the sleeve of his suit. Why was this getting to him so much? 

“Koji was right, I do need something to get my mind off this” he thought as he got off the wall and sighed, glancing to a nearby noodle bar “Mm, well I haven’t eaten all day, may aswell” 

Unfortunately for Zee, while he hoped for a relaxing time, he’d find it was anything but.

“OOOOOI WHO COOKED THIS RAMEN!” snapped a large Japanese high schooler, slamming a large bowl of ramen on the counter in front of the rather annoyed man in a chef uniform  
Standing around the high schooler were several other, 3 at least, all looking like thugs to say the least  
“I did” snapped the cook, glaring up at him “What’re you yelling about!?”  
“This food is undercooked, it tasted like crap!” snarled the thuggish high schooler while grasping the cook by his shirt and lifting him up “You trying to rob me you son of a bitch!?”

Zee stared for a moment, before glancing around the bar, not really wanting to get involved, well, not before anyone else did anyway. However, he soon regretted this choice dearly when Koji of all people stood up from her chair near the window.

“Hey!” she snapped before pointing to him “Leave him alone you douche!”  
“What did you say bitch!?” snapped one of the students, about swagger towards her.

In response he got a bowl of ramen flung straight at his face, the bowl cracking as he crouched down, swearing loudly.   
“Ah, you stupid fucking-!” he began to yell while swaggering forward

Zee frowned, putting his briefcase down. He was about to intervene, when he saw something that he definitely had not expected.   
“Enough with the thuggish routine you idiots” sighed Binya as he got to his feet from a booth, his track suit on as he placed down a now empty bowl of ramen and went over towards the “People are just trying to eat some ramen, calm the hell down” 

“What’d you say!?” snapped one of the thugs   
“I said, calm the hell down, you’re being idiots” said Binya with a dark look. 

The student who was grasping the cook let him go before turning to Binya and walking over to him, the rest of his posse surrounding him.

“You say something?” said their apparent leader   
“You’re damn right I did” growled Binya while narrowing his eyes 

Zee’s eyes widened a bit, Binya? What’s he doing here, acting all tough like that, sure he’s a big guy but why would he go against 5 people? Ugh boy, what was that man getting into. 

“A tough guy huh?” asked another of the thuggish students as they all stared at him “Want us to kick your ass too?”  
“Mhm” said Binya sarcastically while raising an eyebrow “You have a coupla seconds before I beat the piss out of you all”  
“Oh yeah!?” snapped one of the students while pulling his fist and swinging it at Binya’s head at high speeds.

Damn it, he couldn’t watch. Shutting his eyes, he turned his head away, wincing. He expected the fight to be an incredibly violent brawl, maybe with Binya getting a few lucky hits in before getting utterly defeated. Instead, he heard several swift punches and yells of pain before 4 bodies slumped to the floor.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the leaders fist in the air a few inches in front of Binya’s face, whilst Binya’s fist was scrunched up against the leader’s forehead, his eyes narrowed in intense concentration, his left foot forward and his right foot back in a horizontal position. No way…that was a…

“A boxing stance, a text book counter’s boxing stance” muttered Zee, his eyes widened

The leader stood there for a few seconds, before backing up and near collapsing while holding his forehead and cursing loudly.

“Now then, if you and your little idiot friends don’t want another ass beating, I’d get the hell out of here” ordered Binya while pointing to the door with his thumb.

The thuggish high-schoolers slowly pulled themselves to their feet before reluctantly filing out of the noodle restaurant. Binya watched them go, a cocky smile forming along his face, until he blinked, noticing Zee watching him wide eyed. 

“Ugh boy” muttered Binya under his breath “geuss I got some explaining to do”

\---Five minutes later---

Binya sat down with a fresh steaming bowl of ramen before him, on the house for getting rid of those thugs. He had to admit, he didn’t expect to have that much excitement today, but whatever, it’s life. What’s more important is the quiet man that sat opposite him. Zee sat with his arms on the table, his hair still in that weird formal pony tail thing as his gold eyes stared at the table. It was sad really, Zee used to be so…so…he wasn’t sure how to describe him but, now he seemed miserable, though, ever since the match he’s seemed to be deep in thought aswell, better than being depressed he guessed.

“So-“ Zee began to say, before the pale braided girl’s head popped up from behind Zee’s chair  
“Hentai-sensei, I didn’t know you were friends with a boxer” she said while tilting her head  
“Hentai-sensei?” asked Binya before snickering “What’re you up to at school Z-man?”

Zee gave Binya a look and Binya’s snicker immediately died down. 

“You never told me you boxed Binya” said Zee quietly  
“Well I thought you assumed so, you know, with me training almost every day” replied Binya while stirring his ramen with chopsticks in an absent minded fashion “You never asked why I trained so you never answered”

Glancing up from his ramen, he saw Zee’s eyes lower back to staring at the table again, and his frown grew deeper.

“What do you have against boxing anyway?” asked Koji  
“A lot of things” replied Zee before looking to Binya “How long’ve you been going it for?”

Binya frowned, but cleared his throat and leaned forward before answering  
“Around 15 months so far”

“I see” muttered Zee before nodding “Look Bin, I’m not angry that you box, I just would’ve preferred that you tell me about this kind of thing, I’d rather no lies” 

He then got to his feet and grasped his briefcase 

“I’m going to head back to the apartment, I’ll see you later.” He said before turning to the door

Binya watched him go before sighing and shaking his head.

“What a stick in the mud” sighed Koji while glancing at the door  
“He has his reasons, poor guy” replied Binya while shaking his head and continuing to dig into his ramen  
“Sooo, you’re a boxer right? How many matches? I haven’t heard that much about you, what’s your name anyway?” asked Koji

Binya blinked before smirking and pointing to himself with his thumb.  
“Binya Yimikizi, strong boxer and rising star of Japanese boxing!” he exclaimed with a smirk  
“Rising star?” she asked before chuckling “yeah right, prove it, how many matches have you won?”  
“I’ve won 3!” he exclaimed  
“And how many matches have you had?” she asked while leaning forward  
“6!” he exclaimed while raising 6 fingers and standing up  
“Huh, so 50/50 win or lose? Not very impressive” she said before sitting back down in her chair

Binya blinked, looking down at his fingers for a moment before he slowly sat back down and lowered his hand. 

“W, well come to my next match, I’ll show you I’m more impressive than you think I am, I only lost out of luck!” he said hurridly  
“Oho?” she asked while looking back over the seat “When is it? Can you get me a ticket?”  
“It’s in a month, but hell no am I getting you a ticket!” he exclaimed while pointing at her  
“Ah well, geuss you can’t prove to me then” she said, going to sit back down  
“Waitwaitwait” he said while shaking his hands before sighing “Be here tomorrow and I’ll get you a ticket”

“Thank you” said Koji with a smile before sitting back down in her chair, snickering. What a sucker.


	4. Rising Star vs Mighty Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Binya faces off against his 7th opponent, and shows Zee the true spirit of boxing

When Koji had managed to snag tickets from that gullible Binya, she had half hoped for one of those fancy seats right in front of the ring so she could see the matches up close. Rather, the cheapskate got her a ticket near the middle rows of the stadium. And his match wasn’t even the main one, it was the opener for crying out loud. Well, at least the stadium wasn’t very large so she could see the ring clearly, she could at least stick around for the main event. 

Meanwhile, at the opposite side of the arena, a certain blonde haired teacher sat with a cap over his head and a black jacket wrapped around him. After learning about Binya’s apparent boxing career, he did some snooping around and found out Binya had a boxing match today. Why had he bothered looking? He didn’t know. Why had he bothered coming? He really couldn’t be sure. Since it’s been a month the match between Chizi and Mashiba weren’t so prevalent in his mind. Still. Here he was, waiting to watch his second match of Japanese boxing in over 2 months, to think he had come to japan to move on. Not doing much of a good job was he?

Zee sighed before shaking his head, the sinking feeling he had felt before the match with Mashiba had returned, but now it was even worse. Even though he sometimes didn’t act like it, he worried about Binya. Was the man doing okay waiting for his match?

Nope.

Binya was snoring on his bench, a towel covering his face and white and blue trunks while his second slowly face palmed, his round-lensed glasses sliding up his old face and leaning against his forehead. Coach, as he was called, was getting way too old for this crap. His star boxer was like an intimidating psycho, most of his other boxers aren’t even close to getting a belt, and his newest trainee, Binya, was currently snoring like an idiot. He wasn’t going to be too critical, Binya was a hard worker, but sometimes he got on his nerves, such as now. 

“Binya will you get up already!” snapped coach while shaking Binya’s shoulders, making him snort before waking up  
“Wha-?” muttered Binya as he glanced at the coach “Wha, what…oh right”

Binya rubbed his face slowly before shaking his head to clear it and hopping to his feet while rolling his shoulders. 

“Binya. When did you go to sleep” sighed Coach  
“Well I went to sleep….well you see…” he muttered

Coach gave him a deep, harsh, look.

“Did you sleep at all Binya.” Said the coach bluntly  
“Don’t think I did I geuss” sighed Binya while yawning  
“Binya you idiot, don’t you know what that means? You can’t concentrate when you’re not sleeping like that! And if you get knocked out-“ he began to say before Binya gave him his classic grin and shook his head  
“Don’t worry Coach, I got this” he said while holding Coach’s shoulders tightly and staring into his eyes

Coach blinked, looking at Binya’s eyes. So full of force, determination…spirit. Maybe, just maybe what happened last time wouldn’t happen this time. Guess only time will tell. Back out at the ring, music began to play ahead and the lights dimmed down as Binya began to swagger forward while raising his fists and firing jabs forward.

“In the blue corner, weighing in over 72 kilograms, with a 50/50 record of 3 wins and 3 losses, the self proclaimed “Rising Star”, Binyaaaaaa Yimikazi!” yelled the announcer, his voice reverberating around the small stadium. By the time his voice stopped echoing around the stadium some of the people in the audience had began to clap and cheer. Nowhere near the same response Mashiba received, but judging from the big grin spread across Binya’s face, he was loving it all the same.

“You always were a glutton for attention,” thought Zee as he leaned forward a bit, watching Bin vault right over the ropes as his seconds climbed in in a less risky manner.

Looking around at the crowd, Bin’s grin grew louder and he raised his arms, laughing as he did a 360. Zee blinked and quickly pulled his cap down over his face. Koji meanwhile just face palmed.

“And in the red corner, weighing in at 70 kilograms, with a clearer streak of 5 wins and one loss, the roaring lion of japan, Kenji Takahichi!” 

At this there was a much louder cheer from the crowd as a man with a skinhead style haircut and rather impressive sideburns proudly strolled towards the ring from the opposite corner. In the ring, Binya lowered his arms, staring at Kenji as he walked towards the ring. From what he could see, the guy was built as hell despite being a few inches shorter than Binya, he was significantly stronger than he looked in his tapes, it seemed.

“Hey coach, gimme a run down on that guy again” said Binya, not taking his eyes off Kenji as he climbed into the ring.  
“You don’t remember?” asked Coach in disbelief  
“No I remember, I just need to confirm,” said Binya as he rubbed his lower lip with his glove

Coach glanced to Binya for a moment before scratching behind his head.

“Kenji’s a fully suppressive infighting boxer” said Coach “He seems to focus more on stifling and shutting down competition before it can even start going, but he’s a more instinctive boxer than anything else, so be careful.”

Binya nodded before rubbing his neck, staring straight at Kenji who stared right back. A suppressive infighter huh? He hated that kind of boxer the most, always getting in his face. He was going to have to deal with this problem, and if need be, pull some tricks.

After a few moments, the referee walked to the centre of the ring, calling Binya, Kenji, and their seconds over. Zee frowned from the audience above, he wasn’t sure what he was meant to expect here. Judging from how he put down those thugs a month ago, Zee’s have to say that Binya was a counter boxer, which was all well and good, but how’ll he manage against someone who’s so short? With Binya and Kenji now right in front of each other, Zee could see that Kenji’s head was right around Binya’s stomach, an easy target for body blows. 

The referee explained the rules swiftly and efficiently, and promptly sent Binya and Kenji back to their corners. All that was left was the bell. 

Binya stood with his back to the corner, staring straight at Kenji with his fists clenched tightly. 

“You better be watch closely,” he thought, glancing to the audience before raising his fists and crouching down somewhat, until he was around the same size of Kenji.

Kenji saw this before raising his fists until they were right under his eyes, his arms covering his body in a peek-a-boo style stance. The two stared at each other in this stance until, finally, the bell rang with a resounding gong.

Immediately Kenji charged forward, but the moment he was within range, Binya leaped backwards into the ropes until they went tight against his back, and he suddenly propelled himself forward and lunged past Kenji, but as he went past he swung a big left hook at his guard, putting his full weight into the attack and sending the left fist of Kenji’s guard right into Kenji’s face, clotheslining him and sending him flipping forward before collapsing into the ropes, while upside down no less. Binya smirked and stood up straight while exhaling, as the entire crowd let out an impressed cheer.

“Whoa what kind of move was that!? Was that a counter?” asked someone from the crowd  
“He used his momentum against him, it was a counter, at least, I think it was!” said someone else

Koji, who had her chin propped on her hand, leaned back while raising an eyebrow, rather impressed. She certainly hadn’t expected that, maybe this Binya guy was more impressive than she gave him credit for. That was what Zee had been thinking as well. But he wasn’t going to forget one of the golden rules of boxing, anything could happen in the ring. He wasn’t going to count his chickens just yet.

As if on cue, as the referee had just reached the count of 3 when Kenji hopped to his feet, shaking his head to clear it before he raised his fists, just as surprised as everyone else in the stadium by that little attack. Still, no way was he going to make the mistake of charging that man like that. He was going to have to corner him.

Binya stared down at Kenji before returning to his stance, but not going so low this time. Kenji bared his teeth before beginning to hop on the balls of his feet and swaying side to side. 

“Oho, so that’s your game huh?” asked Binya before edging towards him “The style of Makanouchi Ippo, smart idea, but that won’t work on me”

Binya suddenly lashed out at him with a flurry of jabs, aiming to hit his more open and less swayed stomach. However, his jabs only ended up bouncing straight off his guard as Kenji lowered it to his body, his eyes glaring at Binya as he continued to sway from side to side. 

But that idiot. With his guard now low, nothing would stop him from hitting up high! Binya threw one more jab before swinging a straight at Kenji’s left eye, the attack rocketing forward. Only to hit nothing. 

“Wha-?” began Binya before feeling an immense pain in his stomach as Kenji slammed his shoulder straight into it, charging him backwards and right into the corner, pinning him.

“Nowhere for you to run “rising star!”” thought Kenji as he pulled his fist back and slammed it straight into Binya’s liver, making his eyes widen in pain and shock

The pain was unbelievable, this man punches felt like he was being rammed with a train over and over, if he took too many of those, he was going down. Another punch slammed right into liver and Binya had to choke back the impulse to throw up. Okay, that’s it.

As Kenji reared his fist back, Binya crouched down low and raised his hand, blocking the blow before slamming his fist into Kenji’s stomach, just a few centimetres above the belt and dangerously close to his manhood. Kenji blinked and instinctively backed up, his kidneys already buzzing with pain as he bent over a little bit, resisting the urge to hold his groin. 

“Even if I have to fight dirty, I’m not being cornered by you!” snapped Binya as he swung an uppercut to slam into Kenji’s wide open jaw, sending his head flying backwards, that is, before Kenji near immediately recovered and swung a huge swung at Binya’s side, the attack making him wince as it slammed into his ribs. But did Binya back down? On the contrary, he immediately responded by firing fast jabs at Kenji. Kenji immediately tried to get close, swaying away from the jabs and began to swing an uppercut at his chin. Instead he received a counter downwards punch to the face that knocked him back to the ground into a crouching position. 

Kenji snarled before suddenly firing a right straight up from his crouching position into Binya’s gut, making him bend over and get a hook to the jaw that sent him stumbling to the side against the ropes. Kenji swiftly lunged towards him while Binya sank back into the ropes until they were stretched as far as they could go, and he suddenly slungshot himself right at Kenji, pulling his fist back as he swung it right towards Kenji’s face.

“STOP!” ordered the referee, getting between them and stopping them in their tracks

Binya and Kenji panted, staring at each other before going to each other’s corners, Binya wiping sweat off his forehead. Zee sighed and leaned back in his chair, not even realizing that he had held his breathe. Binya’s style of fighting was certainly all over the place, not at all like he expected, but he seemed to be doing rather well. First round was over and, according to his count, Binya was in the lead, having downed Kenji in the first few seconds of the round. 

Sitting in his corner, Binya shut his eyes while panting and leaning back.

“That was good Binya, a little all over the place compared to your usual style but good” said Coach “But you need to calm down, it’s just the first round, you’re already near exhausted, take the time to rest and catch your breath”

Binya smirked before looking to Coach with one eye open.

“Don’t worry…I got this” he said between pants while giving him a thumbs up.

Coach blinked before nodded and giving him a thumbs up as well 

“Seconds out!” yelled the announcer

Binya exhaled before putting his mouth guard in his mouth an biting down to keep it in place, before walking out to the centre of the ring while cracking his knuckles as Kenji took a stance.

“Okay, come at me then” he said as he took his stance, just as Kenji charged forward again.

They traded blows upon blows, weaving and charging, Kenji going on the offensive as Binya danced around the ring, slingshotting across ropes, using Kenji’s momentum against him and firing counters in his highly unpredictable outboxing countering. But, as Coach had thought, by the end of round 5, Binya was completely exhausted, sweating profusely with his face blackened by bruises along his face and body. But he was still smiling and looking at Kenji, who looked even worse than he did. He was bruised up and sweating as well, but he had a look of anger and confusion. No doubt getting frustrated with Binya bouncing about the place to avoid him

But now, he wasn’t really sure if he could keep his pace up. He was going to have to change his tactics. Though, no doubt the moment he decided to stand still he’d get ran over like an animal in a highway.

“Well, nobody said boxing didn’t have risks” sighed Binya as he bit down onto his mouth guard and got to his feet, wiping sweat off his forehead

“Seconds out!” yelled the referee  
“Binya, good luck” said Coach with a nod “Remember. If you run out of stamina.” He put his hand on his chest “Spirit.”

Binya nodded before taking his stance and facing Kenji, who had now dropped his guard completely. Binya blinked at this, Kenji’s arms were down low, cocked 90 degrees and wide open as he stared up at Binya. 

A brawling stance? Heh, he’s finally cracked and is resulting to such things? According to the tapes, he was an infighter, not someone who’d slug it out. Well then. This’ll be interesting it seems. 

Up in the seats, Zee frowned deeply, his eyes narrowing considerably. A brawling stance, huh. It seemed out of the blue, but Zee had a bad feeling in his gut for some reason. Maybe it was his worry for Binya, or maybe it was his instincts telling him something was wrong. He was more inclined to believe the former, mainly because he didn’t want Binya going through any surprises. But despite his hopes, he knew deep down, Binya was going to be in trouble.

“BOX!”

Binya swiftly took a step forward, expecting Kenji to rush in again. Instead, Kenji calmly walked right towards Binya, his eyes screaming bloody murder. Binya frowned at this before beginning to circle Kenji, forcing him to stop and watch him. Binya wasn’t sure exactly what type of game Kenji was trying to pull, however, he wasn’t about to fall for it. 

He pulled his left fist back, about to start firing rapid jabs when he blinked, seeing Kenji’s right foot slam down as he lunged forward and twisted his entire upper body to the left, wind flying off his fist as he swung a massive left hook towards Binya as he circled. 

No way he could dodge that, the momentum from the circling was sending him right towards that fist. Only thing he could do was block! 

“Guard up!”

SMASH

The hook slammed cleanly into Binya’s shoulder, but it sent a shock up and down his entire body, the pain making his pupils go dull as he staggered backwards and slumped against the ropes, holding his shoulder with a grimace while Kenji stared at him, slowly raising his fist to point at him.

“Now you’ve made me show my true colours Yimikazi!” thought Kenji while narrowing his eyes 

Binya swallowed nervously before shaking his head and standing up straight, returning to his stance. He thought he couldn’t take Kenji’s hits before? One blocked hit was enough to nearly break his shoulder. This style, brawling, was his true style, and he was going to go all out against him.

Time to return the favor.

Binya leaned against the ropes before suddenly propelling himself forward, keeping a tight guard as he went in towards him. Kenji blinked at this before growling and lunging towards Binya as well. 

The two met in the centre of the ring and immediately fists began to fly. Kenji fired a massive left straight at Binya, but Binya utilized his longer reach and shut the attack down with a counter left straight of his own, slamming his fist right into his nose. He half hoped it would’ve sent Kenji reeling back so Binya could combo him. Instead, Kenji planted his left foot on the ground, poising himself up to shrug Binya’s fist right off and swing his fist right up at Binya’s chin in an uppercut.

Binya’s eyes widened and he leaned back, barely dodging the attack but feeling the wind from it’s strength. Backing up a little, he tried to get his bearings back, but Kenji wouldn’t let him, he immediately lunged forward and swung his fist towards Binya’s stomach. Reacting swiftly, Binya held his guard as tightly as he could, bracing himself for impact.

The attack never came.

Binya blinked, looking around in front of him, where’d he-

He got his answer when he felt three of his ribs crack as Kenji slammed his fist cleanly into Binya’s liver, making his mouth fill up with blood before he fell to his knees and hands, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

“DOWN! Kenji, go back to your neutral corner!” snapped the referee before kneeling down near Binya and starting his count.

Kenji sighed and leaned against the corner post, looking down at his fists and clenching them tightly. When he had heard that he was facing this so called “rising star” who had lost 3 matches, he thought it was going to be easy. Yet, here he was, battered and bruised and forced to show a side he had never shown before on the ring. 

“I am impressed, Yamikazi” he thought “But it’s over, nobody can stand up from a blow like that” 

Imagine the surprised on his face when Binya slowly began to rise, grasping the referee for support. The referee blinked, stopped in the middle of his count as Binya got to his feet and spat blood out of his mouth before raising his fists again.

“Ready to go when you are ref” he said with a nod towards him

The entire audience went silent at this, many stunned by the fact that he got up from a blow like that.

“Jesus christ” muttered Koji, sitting at the edge of her seat while leaning forward “That man…”

Kenji frowned before standing up straight and getting back into his stance. Binya watched this before glancing down at his shaking legs, no doubt about it, his body was damaged to high hell, and his legs were screaming at him to sit down, lie down, give up. But that wasn’t going to happen. 

“Box!”

Kenji immediately charged forward again, but Binya stood his ground, going as low as his legs would allow him as he prepared for the incoming onslaught, but this time, his eyes watched Kenji carefully. Kenji let out a loud roar as he began to plough into Binya’s guard, his fist smashing into his arms and shoulders again and again, but despite the near bone breaking strength of the punches, Binya kept his guard up and his stance steady as he endured the attacks, watching him closely, his expression, his swings as they slammed into him.

However, after 2 minutes, his arms and shoulders began to drop on their own, shaken from the constant barrage of blows. His guard was dropping, crap crap crap if he took another one of those blows he was done for. 

“All or nothing” he thought as Kenji pulled his right fist back, cocking his entire body for a powerful right hook

As Kenji sent the attack blasting forward, Binya’s right foot slid forward and he suddenly rocketed forward with a left hook of his own while Kenji’s rocketed towards his face. 

“ComeoncomeonCOME ON!” yelled Binya as his counted soared forward.

BOOM

Blood sprayed across the ring and the crowd gasped as one of the boxers slumped to the floor. Binya lay there, groaning from the blow, however, Kenji had blood running down his smashed nose. He had taken the full force of his own momentum and that of Binya, and it had nearly knocked him right to the floor, the only reason he was still up was because he was clinging tightly to the ropes, his vision very foggy indeed.

Binya meanwhile had his eyes wide open, but his pupils were dull and he didn’t look like he was conscious. 

“Kenji, back to your neutral corner!” snapped the referee before looking down at Binya “One...!”

Coach’s eyes were wide and his jaw nearly hit the floor. That assault, he had endured that entire barrage of giant blows to get the timing down, and then he went for it, and it worked! 

“Binya…BINYA GET UP!” he yelled while slamming his fists on the mat “You just need to come back to me come on! Up up up! You’re almost there!” 

“Come on Binya get up” said Zee quietly while clenching his fists tightly

“BINYA GET UP!” yelled someone in the crowd  
“YOU CAN DO IT, GET UP!” 

“Six!....seven!...ei-“ 

The referee blinked as Binya grasped him by the shirt and slowly got to his feet, staggering a tiny bit before raising his fists in a stance. Kenji stared from his corner, his hand over his broken nose.

“Incredible” he muttered, grasping the ropes still

The referee stared at Binya for a moment before backing up and yelling “box!”

Kenji stared at Binya before beginning to stumble forward, his fists up as he moved. Binya stared silently before slowly edging towards Kenji. The two moved at a snails pace, getting closer and closer to each other as the seconds ticked by. Finally, the two fighters reached the centre and they both pulled their fists back, about to get back into the fray, that is, until the bell rang.

“Stop! Back to your corners!” ordered the referee, getting between them both

Kenji blinked, before nodding and stumbling to his corner. Binya however was still edging towards Kenji, pushing against the referee.

“Oi! Binya! Didn’t you hear me, back to your corner!” he yelled

At that, Binya blinked before looking around. “Wha-?” he muttered quietly

“BINYA! BACK HERE!” yelled Coach while slamming his foot against the ring’s mat to get his attention.

Binya stared quietly before nodding and walking towards him. 

“What you did was crazy you know” said Coach as he wiped sweat off of Binya’s body  
“Yeah well…you know me” said Binya quietly “Always the crazy guy…I have his timing down.”  
“I know I saw” said Coach with a nod “But if you go down one more time, you’re done Binya, I’m throwing the towel in, understand? You’re barely awake as is, any more of those blows and you’ll be in trouble.”  
“Pff, alright” he said with a tiny nod before taking some water and sighing “What happened last time isn’t going to happen this time Coach”

He waited a second before adding in English “I got this.”

Coach blinked. That saying again, he always said that sure, but this time, Coach had a feeling he truly meant it. 

“Seconds out!” 

Binya bit down into his mouthgaurd before getting to his feet, his eyes shut as he took a deep breathe, before exhaling. His mind felt weak and his vision was wobbly. But he wasn’t going to be fine. This round was going to be the last.

Kenji stared at Binya, taking deep breathes as well. It seemed the name “Rising Star” may fit this man afterall. But he wasn’t going to let himself be beaten, not until he could stand no longer. It was going to end this round.

“Box!”

Kenji was about to try and charge in when Binya already stepped right in to Kenji until there was a very small distance between them and fired a rapid uppercut right at Kenji’s open chin. Not expecting this, he took the uppercut straight to the jaw, but then swung his right fist towards Binya in a large straight, but before the attack reached his head, Binya tilted his head to the side while crouching down, his own arm crossing right over Binya’s and slamming into his cheek in a cross counter, the attack nearly sending the mouth guard out of Kenji’s mouth.

However, he near instantly recovered and swung his left fist to slam into Binya’s now open chest, the attack knocking him off his feet a little bit before he was slammed back down to earth by Kenji’s right fist slamming into his side, sending him skidding across the mat on his hand. The pain was excruciating, but this time Binya shoved it to the back of his head and took a rather swift (but shaky) step in to duke it out some more.

The attacks were swift and powerful, and the crowd went silent as the exchange occurred. Kenji’s powerful punches smashed clean through Binya’s guard and each blow threatened to make his body rebel and give up, but he powered on through, and began to get some heavy blows in himself, now countering Kenji more and more, his own strength going against him as Binya began to predict his attacks and get the upper hand, landing counter after counter upon him, until the two cocked their bodies back and sprung forwards with powerful hooks.

WHAM.

Both hooks hit home, but. Binya’s hit first. Kenji was sent stumbling back, his vision darkening again as his legs began to shake. Binya only some of the force of the punch, but it was still enough to send him stumbling back, blood running down from his nose. Kenji groaned and grasped a rope in a crouching position while Binya rubbed his face with his glove and quickly went in for the kill.

“Ha! Not so tough are y-“ began Binya as he pulled his fist back

His sentence was cut short by his own pain filled yell as Kenji suddenly launched himself back up from his crouching position, smashing his fist straight into Binya’s stomach and launching him a few feet into the air, his eyes wide eyed and his mouth guard falling from his mouth. 

But as Binya fell down to earth, he pulled his fist back, coiling his entire body back while Kenji crouched down again. With a roar, Binya swung his fist down at Kenji while Kenji leaped up, the two fists passing each other as they headed towards each other’s faces, their right fists moving so fast the crowd could only see a blur.

WHAM.

Both of the attacks hit home, and two bodies hit the floor hard. The entire crowd went silent as Binya and Kenji lay on the ring’s mat, both of them unmoving and silent on the mat.

“Oh my god” muttered Zee while Coach’s eyes went wide. 

The referee stared for a moment before raising his hands “Down!”

The attack was huge and flashy, but it would be more damaging to Binya than anyone else. Yes Kenji more or less took the full weight of Binya’s body to the head, but Binya just fell onto Kenji’s fist. In other words-

“A right counter” Zee muttered while frowning  
“He fell flat on his face too, that’s-“ muttered Coach while grasping his towel  
“HEY ONE OF YOU GET UP!” snapped someone from the crowd  
“THIS ISN’T THE TIME TO BE SLEEPING, UP UP!” yelled someone else as people in the crowd began to chant both of their names  
“Binya! Kenji! Binya! Kenji!” they yelled while the referee continued his count

“4…5…6…”

As the referee counted, neither boxer stirred at all and Zee clenched his fists tightly, gritting his teeth as the chants grew louder. No, not again. He couldn’t lose someone else like this. 

Rising to his feet, he ripped his cap off, took a deep breathe and yelled at the top of his lungs “BINYA YOU GOD DAMN IDIOT, GET THE HELL UP!” Many people in the crowd sitting near Zee looked at him as if he were crazy, and across the hall, Koji blinked, rather surprised at the sight of her hentai sensei standing amongst the crowds, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“7!....8!...9!”

Before the referee could finish his count, Binya grasped him by his shirt and yanked himself into a standing position, while Kenji stayed knocked out on the floor. 

“10!”

Binya’s last second standing more or less caught everyone off guard, even the referee judging from his expression, but the referee regained his composure before signaling for the end of the match.

Binya blinked before smiling and raising his hands up and laughing.

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” he screamed at the top of his lungs as the crowd cheered his name

Zee watched Binya before putting his hat on and clapping. Binya gave his all for that victory, had nearly been knocked out more than twice, compared to the match Mashiba had with Chizi, this match was amazing. This was a match he’d want to remember.

Meanwhile, on the ring, Binya continued to yell until his lungs couldn’t hold it anymore, and he promptly collapsed on his knees, nearly falling over until Coach caught him and crouched down next to him. 

“You did well Binya” said Coach with a nod “You nearly had me there, I was a few seconds away from throwing in the towel”  
“Heh, I told you didn’t I?” he asked before saying in English “I got this.”  
“I guess you did” sighed the coach while helping Binya to his feet

Before Binya was taken away by Coach though, they were blocked off by Kenji who stared at Binya, Kenji was actually leaning against his own coach, and judging from the bleeding, he was in pretty bad shape. However, Kenji pointed to Binya slowly.

“Rising Star huh?” he asked before giving him a thumbs up “Make sure not to lose in your next match. I’m going to be keeping an eye on you”  
“Same for you Kenji” said Binya before offering him his fist “Who knows, maybe we’ll meet in this ring again and you’ll kick my ass again”  
“Pfft, we’ll see” he said before placing his fist against Binya’s

This Rising Star had Kenji’s utter respect, and he truly did hope he’d get to fight this man again one day.

\---20 minutes later---

Binya sat on the bench while rubbing his face. He wasn’t really in the condition to watch the rest of the matches live, so he had decided it best to get some rest and watch it on a small T.V on the wall instead. 

“Pfft, compared to my match these matches ain’t worth crap, must be kinda disappointing” chuckled Binya as he watched the matches and took sips from a water bottle

It was at that point that there were a couple of knocks on the door.

“Yeah? Come in” said Binya while glancing to the door

The door eased open before Zee walked in, his cap in his hand as he shut the door behind him.

“Hey Bin, you okay?” he asked while leaning against the door  
“Nah not really, got punched to hell and I think I broke 3 of my ribs” he said with a shrug “That and he broke my nose”  
“Well you’re sure in high spirits for someone who got the crap beaten out of them” noted Zee as he sat down next to him  
“Eh, I’m used to it” said Binya before folding his arms “And how’re you, not traumatized?” 

“Not really” said Zee while shaking his head “Unlike the match with Mashiba this match was…not really sure how to describe it really. All I know is that it reminded me of why I loved this sport”  
“I know, I saw you smiling when you were clapping” chuckled Bin before lightly punching Zee’s shoulder “First time I’ve seen you smile ever since you came here Z-man and it’s only after I get the shit beaten out of me, never took you for a sadist”  
“Shadap” replied Zee while thwacking him over the head with his wrist 

While Binya snickered and rubbed the back of his head, Zee leaned forward a bit and rubbed his thumbs together.

“Hey, Bin” he said quietly  
“Yeah?” asked Binya while tilting his head  
“You think that….no, no forget it” he said while shaking his head  
“Pff don’t worry about that, after the match me and some friends are going to get so drunk we’ll probably end up forgetting tonight anyway” snickered Binya before tilting his head to look at Zee “you should come with, it’d be fun and you’d finally have someone to pester other than me”

“Nah I’m okay” he said with a small shake of his head “Besides, I got work tomorrow, it’s late as is, I should get going”  
“Ah well, suit yourself” sighed Binya with a nod  
“Maybe next time” replied Zee as he went to the door “You fought well”  
“You know” said Binya in a sudden serious tone “If it weren’t for you yelling at me like that, I don’t think I would’ve gotten up. Almost reminds me of a couple of years ago, hm?”

Zee went silent as he gripped the door handle, staring at his hand around the cold metal.

“Yeah” he said with a nod before opening the door and was about to walk out when he bumped into someone he swear was going at least 50 miles per hour. 

Dropping to the floor, Zee groaned before looking to see who had run into hi – red polkadots. His face went faint red as Koji walked over him and swiftly went to Binya and shoved a note pad and pen in his face.

“Eh, what’s this about?” he asked as he held them  
“I want your autograph” she said in a matter of fact tone  
“Well then, that’s understandable” replied Binya with a cocky smile.

He was about to sign it when Zee snatched the book and pen from Binya while glaring at Koji.

“You have school tomorrow, shouldn’t you be at home?” asked Zee with a stern look on his face  
“You’re one to talk” pointed out Koji  
“She has a point” said Binya in agreement, only to get a punch to the head from Zee in response

“Besides, you shouldn’t really be telling me what to do you know, you want everyone in school to hear about your yelling stunt back there?” she asked with a snide smile while putting her hands on her hips “Your reputation is dubious as is”

Zee gave her a blunt look in reply.

“I like this girl” snickered Binya 

Zee sighed before shoving the notepad and pen into Binya’s grinning face and pointing to Koji.

“Don’t be late tomorrow” he said sternly before leaving the room in an annoyed manner, slamming the door behind him.


	5. Winding Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zee reflects on the effect Binya and Kenji's match had on his person, before learning more about just how far his "reputation" precedes him

It had been two weeks after Binya’s match, and, unfortunately for Zee, Binya’s ego had grown near three times its usual size since that match. Everyday he came back to the apartment with a rather smug look on his face, and tales of how he was stopped in the street for autographs and interviews. Sheesh, with the way how he’s acting then, Zee wondered how he’d act if he ever became a champion. 

Unable to take Binya and his ego for so long, Zee decided to spend his Saturday afternoon in a park with earphones plugged into his ears. His eyes were shut and he listened to his smooth jazz silently. Mainly just relaxing and appreciating the beauty of nature around him. It was nice being able to relax. While he wouldn’t openly admit it, Binya’s boxing match had calmed him down somewhat. Thinking about Mashiba’s match was enough to send shivers down his spine, but Binya’s match was enough to put a smile on his face and send all shivers away.

He had no idea why really, but he was going to try and not think about it too much. 

“Well well well, fancy meeting you out here” snickered a voice from behind him

Zee blinked, looking behind him to see Koji jogging in place in a red and black track suit. He blinked before sighing and pulling his earphones out.

“Koji, good to see you exercise” he said with a nod, earning a somewhat offended look from Koji  
“You trying to say I’m fat?” she asked with a frown 

Zee blinked and shook his head, a tad bit flustered for a moment. It must’ve been obvious on his face because she started to snicker in a sly manner. 

“You know I’m kidding” she replied, punching Zee’s shoulder before continuing to jog in place  
“You’re not very funny then” replied Zee casually, slowly getting to his feet before looking to her “You usually run this way I’m guessing?”  
“Most of the time yes” she replied before looking to the sky “Was going to keep going but then I spotted you sitting all mopey as usual”  
“Don’t you have better things to do than check on your homeroom teacher?” asked Zee  
“Don’t you have better things to do than sit about and sulk?” she countered “Shouldn’t you be getting drunk with your friends?”

“It’s 1 in the afternoon” replied Zee in a deadpan tone, raising an eyebrow towards her “Who the hell get’s drunk at 1 o’clock in the afternoon?”

\---A few miles away---

Binya promptly fell right off his chair, a beer bottle rolling out of his hand while the bar tender gave Binya a look

“You’ve got to be kidding me Binya” sighed a man who had been sitting next to the now drunk boxer

\---back in the park---

“Don’t you have any friends to hang out with anyway?” asked Zee while putting his hands in his pockets and shutting one eye  
“Don’t you?” she replied, continuing to jog in place

Zee frowned a tad bit at that question. To be honest? The only friends he had were Binya, a fellow English teacher and the janitor. None of whom he was really willing to hang about with at the moment, the Janitor because he was so old and kept going on about the war, the English teacher because he was sure she kept hitting on him, and Binya because, well, he’s Binya.

“You keep dodging my questions” replied Zee as he shut both of his eyes “You shouldn’t be anti-social, it can affect you academically”  
“Coming from the loner” replied Kenji before stopping for a moment “Why don’t you run with me? You could use the exercise”

Zee gave her a blunt stare.

“Come again?” 

She responded by pointing at his slightly rounded stomach. Okay, yeah Zee hadn’t worked out at all in over 3 months but that was no reason to start pulling out such accusations like calling him fat.

“You don’t exercise much, you probably have no stamina at all” she said, her sly grin growing wider as she jogged around the bench

Zee eyed her slowly while narrowing his eyes.

“I do have some stamina thank you very much” he said with a frown, folding his arms tightly  
“Oh yeah?” asked Koji, her jogging stopped as she looked towards him  
“Yes.” Replied Zee, unfolding his arms while looking down at her  
“Okay then, let’s have a little race then” she said before pointing towards the park gate that was at least a mile or two away 

Zee stared wide eyed for a moment, before glancing to Koji who put her hands on her hips and give him the most smug look he had seen in a long while. He shouldn’t be doing this, he was being played like a violin by one of his own students, and he was falling for it. He shouldn’t do it, he was a teacher. He shouldn’t do it, he had to keep a professional attitude.

“Fine” he said while watching her, he had a feeling he was going to regret this  
“Ohoho?” asked Koji, her smug look intensifying while she leaned forward a bit “Okay then, how about we make this interesting”

Had Zee’s skin tone been much lighter, his face would’ve gone slightly pale.

“If I win the race, you have to go easy on me, no more homework, for an entire week” she replied while pointing to his chin

Staring down at her finger, Zee could imagine having to explain to the entire class why one person hadn’t had to do homework, saying “She beat me in a race so she get’s no homework.” Considering his still infamous reputation for being Koji’s stalker (despite him having explained why the hell this was unwarranted), it could probably result in him losing his job. 

“Say no say no say no” he thought, frowning deeply before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration “Fine, but if I win, you need to stop calling me a pervert”  
“deal!” she replied enthusiastically before grasping his hand and shaking it “You ready?”  
“As ready as I’ll ever be” sighed Zee as he unfolded his arms and leaned forward a bit

Koji smirked before leaning forward as well, staring towards the gate.  
“Alright then, in 3…2…1…g-!” began Koji

Zee was already bursting forward, not giving Koji any chance to get her momentum ahead of him. Koji’s eyes widened at this, mainly surprised at how such a chubby person could move so quickly. Either way, she swiftly sprinted aswell, moving to catch up to him.

Zee pumped his arms and legs, leaning back a bit to allow him to keep moving but not on full blast. The gate was about 2 miles away, no need to tire himself out before hand. That’s what he thought anyway, until Koji suddenly zipped right past him, hopping over a bench as she made her way forward.

“Holy crap she’s fast” thought Zee before leaning forward and picking up the pace, weaving through crowds as he made his way along the path towards the gate. Koji smirked as she kept the lead. All that Zee had as an advantage was a powerful start, but his bulk and stomach would slow him down when it came to actual running. She could see it now, no homework for an entire week. Ha! This was her best idea yet!

She shut her eyes and promptly laughed out loud in triumph, until she felt a wisp of wind as Zee suddenly appeared on her right, a little bit ahead of her, almost out of nowhere. 

“Where’d you come from!?” she snapped  
“I ran” he replied before continuing up a set of stairs towards the gate, panting slightly

The pair ran along the path and left a small gust of wind behind them as they went, some joggers watching curiously as the duo sprinted right past them, sending papers and litter flying into the air. 

“Aren’t you going to give up!?” exclaimed Koji, glaring at Zee  
Zee gave her a stern look before exhaling through his nose and bursting forward even more, his feet and hands a blur as he launched himself along, much to Koji’s surprise.

“Jesus” she muttered before picking up the pace aswell, her eyes narrowing as she chased after the sprinting Zee, wondering how on earth a teacher like Zee could be so damn fast

The two continued on along the path, Zee taking the lead now while Koji stayed right behind him. The gate, the gate was right in front of him! All he had to do was reach it and he could put this whole thing behind him. His legs and arms felt like lead, his jacket not helping matters as he could feel sweat dripping down his entire body under his clothes. But still, he had to do it! He was almost there!

With a sudden flash of wind, he felt Koji brush past him as she made a beeline right for the gate. No, he was moving so fast a second ago, how could Koji be that fast? Was it her light frame? No, she’d have been ahead of him the entire time…wait. His legs, his feet. They were near frozen in place, moving like a pair of slugs. He had used so much energy he could barely move, damn it!

Koji turned her head to look at him, smirking a bit and mouthing “too slow!” She was about to touch the gate, relishing in her victory.

That’s before she ran smack bang into something and ended up collapsing on the floor, her momentum being slammed into the poor wheezing man she had just tackled into full pelt. 

“Now’s my chance!” thought Zee before lunging forward, not giving Koji a chance to catch her breathe or get back up.

…

\--- five minutes later---

Zee stood panting while rubbing his face slowly, bent over but smiling a little bit. 

“Well, you won” sighed Koji “Despite CHEATING”  
“Says you” replied Zee before slowly standing up straight, and looking to the man leaning against a bench, rubbing his chest slowly

The man that Koji had sprinted right into was rather lean from what Zee could see, but he seemed a bit young, almost Koji’s age, with slicked back hair (his hair even had a green tinge to it).

“Again, sorry for what happened” sighed Zee, looking towards him “Are you alright, do you need to go to a hospital?”  
“Nah I’m good” he said before looking towards Zee and blinking “Hold on a sec, aren’t you…the pervy teacher?”

Zee blinked.  
“eh.”  
“A lot of people know about you for being a pervert apparently” he replied while folding his arms and glancing to Koji, who gave Zee a snarky smile

Zee slowly responded by pressing his palm against his forehead. 

“Guessing you’re a student then” he sighed under his palm  
“Yeah, name’s Nagao Hebi, nice to meet you” he said, extending his hand towards him  
“Hebi…?” he asked as he shook his hand before saying in English “Snake?”  
“Yeah” sighed Nagao with a shrug “I don’t mind the name”

“What kinda person names their kid Hebi?” asked Koji with a raised eyebrow  
“I wonder” replied a deep voice from behind her

Koji and Zee blinked before glancing to the large man in a suit, his face having hardened features and his hair combed down neatly as he looked down at Koji, Zee and Hebi.

“Hey dad, took your time getting here” sighed Hebi while putting his hands in his pockets  
“Sorry I was busy” he chuckled, ruffling Hebi’s green hair before looking down to Zee, his eyes reading him carefully

Zee inwardly swallowed, but folded his arms before looking back to him for a moment.

“You’re rather young to be a teacher” he said finally before offering him his hand “Mr. Nagao”  
“Mr. Mutou” replied Zee, grasping his hand tightly “And yeah, it’s my first job, moved in from new york a couple of months ago”  
“Ah I see” he said with a nod before letting go of Zee’s hand “Hebi, come on, let’s go”

Hebi nodded before giving Zee a look and pointing to him.

“Make sure not to do anything too perverted eh teach?” teased Hebi as he and Mr. Nagao walked towards a car with tinted windows outside of the park

Zee watched them go before shooting Koji a glare, earning the fakest attempt at an innocent look he had ever seen.

“Koji, I swear if this get’s any worse it’ll be on your head” sighed Zee while stomping through the gate  
“Where are you off to? Don’t tell me you’re going to sulk again” sighed Koji  
“Ah shadap” replied Zee in an annoyed tone as he went down the street.

\---A few hours later---

Zee sighed and slowly pulled his jacket off, hanging it up on the coat rack before dropping his keys on the table near the door.

“Eeeey Z-man, where’ve you been?” asked Binya while walking out of the kitchen with a steaming bowl of ramen  
“Walking mainly” replied Zee before walking towards the kitchen and sighing when he saw the mess 

Binya gave Zee a sheepish grin before handing him a can of soda

“Thirsty?” he asked, keeping the grin  
“Yup” replied Zee, taking the can and cracking it open  
“So, how’s your walk been?” asked Binya while Zee took a gulp of soda “You’ve been gone for a while bro” 

Zee blinked, swallowing before wiping soda off his face and leaning against the cleanest part of the kitchen counter, his eyes shut while he exhaled slowly. 

“I’ve been thinking” Zee said simply, opening one eye to look at Binya   
“Oh yeah?” asked Binya before pulling up a chair and sitting down on it backwards, slurping his ramen in a messy manner “A yen for your thoughts?”  
“No” replied Zee, finishing his can off and tossing it into the can “Enough about me, what’ve you been doing with your day, wallowing in your constantly stroked ego?”   
“You’re damn right” chuckled Binya before leaning back and resting his shoulders against the counter behind him “Though, I’m not sure how long it’ll last”

Zee raised an eyebrow a bit.  
“Eh? Why’d you say that?” asked Zee before sipping his can  
“Mainly because I’m still just a B-class boxer” replied Binya as he ate his ramen “The excitement will die down by the time the A-class boxers like Mashiba have another match, I think there’s some featherweight match going to happen in a couple of weeks, wait for that and nobody’ll even remember my name”

Zee blinked before frowning and leaning forward, giving Binya a blunt look.  
“Don’t be so harsh on yourself Binya, that match of yours was-“   
“Incredibly messy and drawn out.” Replied Binya plainly, shutting one eye “Only reason why it’s so popular is because people expected me to lose. That and I was tossed 4 feet into the air with one punch. And the final counter”

Binya returned to stuffing his face with ramen, but his shoulders sagged quite a bit. A slight frown crossed Zee’s face before he went over to Binya, pulling a chair up to sit next to him and continue to drink his soda. Binya looked to Zee for a moment, before chuckling and putting his chopsticks down. 

“Remember back in New York?” asked Binya, looking towards Zee with a somewhat half smile  
Zee blinked, surprised by Binya’s sudden nostalgia, before leaning his chin on his palm and propping his elbow on his knee.  
“Why’re you going on about that now?” asked Zee, raising an eyebrow while shutting his eyes  
“Dunno” replied Binya, putting his half finished bowl of ramen on a nearby table before looking towards Zee and holding his shoulder “Back when we first met in the states, you smiled a hell load more back then”

Zee nearly tensed at Binya holding his shoulder, but after a moment, his muscles slowly relaxed and he scratched his cheek.  
“Smiling’s over rated” he replied before shaking his head a bit, reaching back and pulling out the band that kept his hait in a pony tail   
“So’s being happy then?” asked Binya with a questioning look

Zee shrugged before rubbing his neck somewhat.   
“Things were a lot…easier, at the time” replied Zee with a small shrug, opening his eyes to looking out of a window “Back in the day, you know? Ugh, I feel like an old man”  
“Well, you are 23” snickered Binya, getting a back fist slightly whacked against his temple in response “Oh come on you know it’s true  
“In two years you’ll be 23 as well” replied Zee before shutting his eyes and looking forward again “Anyway, yeah, I remember what it was like back then, not much to worry about back then”  
“Except gangs, poverty and unemployment” replied Binya with a click of his neck  
“Okay, EXCEPT that” said Zee in correction “Compared to what happened after you and your mom moved here anyway”  
“Yeah” sighed Binya before getting to his feet a bit and smiling down at Zee “You know, I’ve noticed you’ve been smiling a bit more”

Zee blinked before glancing up at Binya, before sighing and rubbing under his nose.  
“No idea what you’re talking about” replied Zee in a monotone  
“Oh don’t be such a jackass you know what I’m talking about” chuckled Binya before firing a jab forward, it’s sudden speed making Zee flinch somewhat in response “Getting the old flare back right?”

Zee went silent, glancing to the side while leaning against the chair’s front while Binya sighed and lowered his arms. 

“I’m going to start going back to training a bit more, I actually got a match in about…3 months” he said, flexing his fingers “Just as a heads up, alright?”  
“Make sure not to get to hurt while punching a bag full of sand” replied Zee with a ghost of a smile  
“Well then, try not to let your students keep up that rumor about you being a pedophilic pervert” said Binya with a sly smile 

Zee’s jaw nearly hit the ground as Binya strolled out of the room while laughing loudly.


	6. The Next Fighter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zee visits Binya's gym and is introduced to some of his fellow boxers (including Mashiba), before Binya learns of his next opponent for his match in the next few months

“Another day another bunch of lessons” sighed Zee, walking out of his classroom while stretching a bit, feeling a cold breeze sway through the crisp air of the heated hallways.

When Binya had told Zee about Japan back when they were kids, Binya had failed to mention just how cold it was during winter. Sure his leather jacket was a bit helpful, but the thin jacket of his suit offered no protection to the cold what so ever. He half regretted having to leave the school solely for the fact that it was pleasantly hot inside, compared to the harsh freeze outside.

“Such annoyance” sighed Zee as he went down a set of steps towards the exit

He suddenly stopped as he saw a box placed near the front door of the school, just sitting around completely untouched by chattering students heading out the door. Frowning, Zee moved through the crowd of students by their lockers and picked up the box while looking it over, noticing the words “To Yimikazi” written on it. 

“Yimikazi? Binya.” Thought Zee with a slight frown “The hell is a package for Binya doing here?”

Zee sighed before leaning against a wall out of the way of the door, pulling out his phone and dialing Binya’s number. As the students cleared out, he listened to his phone ring again, and again, and again.

“Hey hey hey it’s Yimikazi “Rising Star” Binya. I can’t answer the phone at the mo cause I’m either drunk off my ass or training hard, so call back a lil later aight?”

CLICK.

Zee stared at the wall opposite him blankly before pocketing his phone and sighing in utter annoyance, reminding himself to introduce Binya’s forehead to the nearest solid surface the next time he saw him. 

“Ohayou Hentai-sensei” said Koji from next to him, poking his nose with a piece of paper 

Zee wiggled his nose before glaring at Koji, making her back up a little bit.

“What do you want Koji” he replied in an incredibly blunt manner  
“Hey calm down Sensei, didn’t mean to upset you” said Koji with a small shrug

Zee sighed before rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

“Sorry just annoyed…what’s that paper?” he asked, gesturing to the paper Koji held between her index and ring finger  
“Yimikazi told me to give this to you when he ran by here this morning” replied Koji, tossing it towards him before Zee caught it off reflex “Was going to give it to you, but I forgot”  
“Forgot?” asked Zee, raising an eyebrow   
“Hey, you may not’ve realized but I’m a busy person” she replied before heading towards the door “Anyway, I’m off, sayonara”  
“Sayonara, be careful on the way home, it may start to snow” said Zee

Koji nodded, moving into the mass of students that filed through the door. Zee watched her go before sighing and opening up the paper to see an address scrawled across it in messy handwriting. Why’d Binya give him an address and then leave a package in front of the door? It didn’t take him long to figure out what he wanted. 

“Damn it Binya, a text would’ve sufficed” he muttered before tucking the box under his arm and heading out the door.

\---

The air was cold and sharp against Binya’s face as he did a swift jog across the street, his hood up and his towel around his neck as he went along. Getting back into the thick of things was always a bit difficult for Binya, the sudden change from rest and relaxation (outside of working as a ramen chef) to the near constant and high intense training required of a boxer was difficult to say the least. 

But was he going to complain? Hell no. He was loving it, as evidenced by the large grin on his somewhat bandaged face under his hood. 

“Yimikazi-senpai hold up!” yelled a young voice from behind him

Binya glanced back as a smaller blonde kid sprinted up next to him, panting deeply but keeping up with him rather well. 

“Keeping up are you Greg?” asked Binya with a small smirk  
“You expect an injured fool like you to outrun such a spry kid?” asked a taller, hooded man as he slowed down to run next to Binya  
“Kabuki man, stop trying to mess with my vibes!” exclaimed Binya, yanking Kabuki’s hood off, and receiving a slap from his flowing black locks in response

“Ow jesus!” snapped Binya, backing up while Kojo laughed and shook his head  
“You should’ve expected that” said Kabuki smoothly while pulling his hood back up and continuing forward “Come on, don’t you have something to talk to Coach about?”  
“hm?” asked Kojo, a curious frown on his face as he looked back at Binya who was spitting hair out of his mouth, receiving a rather exasperated look from the young blond  
“Coach is already setting up another match and Yimikazi’s going to be one of the opening acts along side me” he explained while adjusting the size of his hoodie, slowing down to a walk and grasping Binya’s shirt to stop him from running head on into a frozen puddle on the pavement   
“And who’s the main act?” asked Kojo, tilting his head  
“Mashiba” sighed Binya after getting rid of the last of Kabuki’s hair before giving Kojo a smirk “We’re going to be opening up for a world champion.”

Kojo looked up at him before looking to Kabuki.

“Basically a glorified bathroom break for the audience” explained Kabuki  
“Aaaah, that makes sense” said Kojo with a nod, before Binya promptly elbowed his head with a growl  
“Hey! After the clusterfuck that was the last match I need this so people can take me seriously again” snapped Binya  
“Again?” asked Kabuki, before tilting his head forward to dodge a right straight thrust at where his head was a moment ago 

“You want me to kick your ass!?” snapped Binya while grasping his hood and yanking him close  
“I’m a weight class above you, really want me to fight you again?” asked Kazuki with a sly smile, grasping his wrist in rather tightly and pulling his hand off of his wrist, the two glaring daggers at each other while Kojo gave them both a bemused look

“And these two are supposed to be my role models” he thought with a nervous chuckle

“Oi! What the hell are you two doing out there!?” snapped Coach from a window above them, making Kabuki and Binya glance up before immediately backing up from each other, Binya whistling in an innocent manner while Kabuki glanced at his nails “Just get in here before you get a cold”

While the trio walked into the gym, a shivering Zee walked down the street, his eyes scanning the address on the paper Koji had given him, before looking around at the buildings surrounding him. The walk from school to the address was much much longer than he had expected, it took him over an hour and a half, and Binya ran all the way there? 

“I’m going to have to give him more credit, he’s not as lazy as I thought” muttered Zee under his breath, tightening his jacket around himself “At least when it comes to certain things.”

Reaching a stop at the building Binya, Kojo and Kabuki had walked into, Zee looked up at the building curiously. What sort of building was it he wondered, was this Binya’s gym? Hm, there’s only one-way to find out. Putting the piece of paper in his pocket, he walked in through the door and was immediately greeted with the jingle oof bells, a fresh gust of warm air, and the sight of a shop filled with books and magazines, and gloves hanging from hooks upon the wall above shelves. Looking around slowly, Zee walked in with a half impressed look, he had seen better shops for boxing, but this was pretty impressive for a Japanese store anyway. 

“Good afternoon sir, you looking for something?” asked a chubby man with green rounded glasses, leaning against a counter while looking at him with a friendly smile  
“Sort of, do you know Yimikazi Binya? I’ve this package to give him” explained Zee, pointing to the package tucked under his arm  
“Oh the “Rising Star” huh?” he asked in a way that made Zee frown internally but keep a neutral face  
“Yes. Binya” he said in a blunt tone, staring at him before tilting his head

The chubby man looked to him for a moment before pointing to a door at the back “Those stairs go up to the next floor, he’ll probably be there” he replied  
“Thank you” said Zee with a nod, before turning and muttering under his breath, in English, “Jackass”

Going up the stairs, he felt temperature increase somewhat, along with the sound of grunts, fists hitting their target and chains tinkling. The sounds of ropes whizzing through the air and weights being heaved. He knew this sound rather well, and already he could feel his memories drifting back to a happier time, a small smile creeping across his face before he shook his head and pulled the door open.

The smile he had on his face dropped near instantly as he heard the sound of scythe like flicker jabs. Standing a few feet in front of him was Mashiba, his stance solid as he rammed flicker jab after flicker jab into a poor punching bag, the force of his attacks leaving deep streaks and cuts in it’s surface while he continued his attack. That is, until he stopped and turned his head to stare right at Zee, his deep black eyes and dark expression making Zee flinch.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked, his voice raspy and gruff as he stood up straight and walked over to Zee, staring down at him

Looking at him and being this close, despite not being in the ring at all he could feel the intense, dark pressure from Mashiba crushing down on him. Despite the heat he felt his spine tighten as if in a vice, and felt cold sweat running down his back.

“H, here to see Yimikazi” he stammered quietly while raising the package  
Mashiba stared down at it for a moment before frowning and turning, walking off while saying “He’s busy. Wait.”

Zee exhaled slowly as Mashiba returned to slamming his flicker jabs into the scarred punching bag, the boxers training around the gym making sure to keep their distance. Deciding it wise to focus on anything other than Mashiba, Zee sat down on a bench and fold his arms, letting off a cool sigh while his eyes scanned the gym. While Mashiba indeed let off a dark aura, most of the others boxers in the gym were working just as hard, some lifting weights, using skipping ropes, sparring in the ring and more or less just training. Watching them dispelled the feeling of nervousness he had when he had came face to face with Mashiba, it almost made him want to get up and put on a couple of gloves, he’d probably get his ass kicked if he tried though. Watching the sparing in the ring, Zee’s left fist tightened instinctively the man chuckling somewhat while watching them box, before catching himself and shaking his head 

“no, no, no” he muttered quietly, rubbing his face  
“Oi! Newbie!” snapped a voice that made Zee blink and glance to the source

A relatively young man in a red shirt and tracky bottoms suddenly tossed a glove and helmet at Zee’s direction, a snide look on his face. Zee’s eyes widened as he caught them both before looking to the kid quizzically. 

“What is it?” he asked while looking to him  
“I’ve been stressed all day and all the punching bags are taken, spar me!” he exclaimed while rolling his shoulders

Zee gave him a deadpan look.

“I’m not a member here, and I don’t box” he said, putting the gloves and helmet down  
“You saying you’re chicken?” he asked with a cocky smile while grasping his jacket sleeve “Too scared to fight a macho like me?”  
“A child wouldn’t be afraid of fighting you” replied Zee, yanking his sleeve from the kid’s grasp “I deal with hooligans like you in class, I’m not going to bother with you”

Truth be told, behind his cool expression, Zee was already getting ticked off by the kid, insulting him out of the blue like that. 

“Oh really? Well then, how about you put your money where your mouth is you fat douchebag” he said with a smirk, gesturing to the ring

At that Zee narrowed his eyes.

“Excuse me.” Zee said while slowly rising to his feet and glaring at the kid “What did you say?”  
“Ooh!” he exclaimed in mock terror while backing up “please! Don’t suffocate me with your great belly!”

Zee gave him a slow glare, about to pull the gloves on when the kid promptly got his head kicked into a wall by a ticked off Binya “oi! What do you think you’re doing speaking to your elders like that? Want me to kick your ass again!?”

The kid’s former bravado dissolved into grunts of submission while the ticked off Binya ground his heel into his forehead and finally shoved him on his way to the punching bags.

“Freaking douche bag brat” snarled Binya under his breath before looking to Zee for a moment and smirking “So you still got that old fire under all that teacher stuff?”   
“Eh” replied Zee with a confused look,  
“I saw that look, you were about to kick that kid’s shit in weren’t you?” he asked while leaning in  
Zee glanced to him before bopping Binya’s forehead with his wrist “You sent a package to my school. Dumbass.” He replied, changing the subject swiftly

While Binya and Zee had their conversation, Coach leaned against the ring’s edge, watching Zee curiously while Kabuki stretched with a bemused expression.

“So, whose the fatso, a new recruit?” asked Kabuki while looking to Zee  
“No idea” sighed Coach “From how he was looking around a second ago, I think he knows his way around a ring, maybe he was a former boxer”  
“Pff, you think so?” asked Kabuki, glancing to Coach “think you can get that idea from a first glance?”  
“Maybe” Coach said while adjusting his glasses “But it’s not what he did, it’s how he did it. Anyway, BINYA”

Binya blinked and held Zee’s wrist off of his head while looking to Coach.

“Yeah?” Binya asked while letting go of Zee’s hand  
“I told you to get those tapes, how’re we going to prepare for your next opponent if we don’t even know how he fights?” he asked with an exasperated sigh  
“Don’t worry, my main man here got it” said Binya, tapping Zee’s forehead with his finger and getting a half annoyed look in response  
“Alright, hold on, let me get it” said Zee, picking up the box as well as his jacket, and handing it to Coach

“Good good” sighed Coach before opening it up, and staring blankly.  
“What’s wrong?” asked Binya, holding the ropes and looking at him

Kabuki looked into the box before face palming slowly, Zee looked into the box before slowly rubbing his face and shaking his head.

“Whaaat?” asked Binya with a frown, vaulting over the ropes and looking into the box  
Coach reached in and pulled out a magazine with a naked man in a rather erotic pose, slowly giving  
“I didn’t know that you rolled that way Binya” sighed Kabuki while walking off

Binya stared before his face went bright red and he shoved the magazine back in the box and promptly shut it, yelling “this isn’t my package!”  
Coach gave Binya a blank look before grasping him by his shirt and saying “you’re an idiot. Go get the tapes” before walking off.

Zee sighed before looking to the rather embarrassed Binya 

“If you move now, you should be able to get to the apartment and back” he said simply  
“Yup” replied Binya before promptly running out of the gym

\--an hour later—

Zee hadn’t really planned on staying in the gym for so long, but with it snowing harshly outside, he thought it better to wait for Binya to get back. Considering what had happened with the switched package, he thought it better to ignore the fact that Binya had left a homo-erotic magazine in his school and to stay behind in case Binya needed support or anything like that.

So, other than watching the boxers continuing to train, Zee had mainly just stayed in Coach’s office, lazing about while Coach did some work, filing papers and what not. 

“So, are you Binya’s…?” asked Kojo as he sat on a window sill, who Kabuki had promptly briefed on Binya’s abrupt coming out of closet after he had left

Zee glanced to Kojo with a raised eyebrow, his hands in his pockets.

“I’m a friend” he replied simply with a shrug  
“Right” Kojo muttered, glancing to the side   
“Right” sighed Zee, leaning forward and shutting his eyes

More silence.

“You know, I half expected that Binya was into men” said Kabuki as he leaned against a wall  
“Can we talk about something else?” asked Zee with an exasperated growl

“Who taught you how to box” said Coach all of a sudden, striking into the awkward conversation after hours of silence  
“how’d you-….?” He asked before sighing as he rubbed his neck a bit “I was taught by my dad mainly”   
“Interesting, I’m guessing from your current condition you haven’t trained or boxed in a while” said Coach while linking his fingers together under his chin  
“6 months” he said while shutting his eyes 

“Why’d you stop?” said Kojo in surprise 

Zee went very silent at that shutting one eye while frowning deeply. 

“I’d rather not talk about-“ he began to say, but suddenly the door was kicked open and Binya came in as he raised a package  
“got it!” exclaimed Binya  
“That better not be porn in there” replied Kabuki with a smirk  
“Oh shut the fuck up” growled Binya, glaring at him  
“How about you make me” replied Kabuki while glaring back down at him  
“Oh I gladly will” replied Binya while raising his fist towards him

“Enough.” snapped Coach while pointing to the VCR and T.V in front of the couch “Let’s see what we got”  
“These tapes are real good, trust me” said Binya while pulling them out of the box  
“I’m sure they are” replied Kabuki in a suggestive tone  
“Oh you son of a-“ he snarled before Coach went to Binya and flicked his ear “Put it in.”

Binya sighed and nodded before pushing the tape into the VCR and sat down. Coach and Kabuki leaned against the back of the couch while Binya pressed play on the remote and started the tape.

Zee had seen different types of boxers back when he was more active in the boxing world. Infighters and brawlers like Kenji, outfighters like Binya, counter fighters, etc etc. What he saw on the screen was something completely different. 

“ELBO- wait, no, that wasn’t an elbow?” yelled the commentator in utter confusion

On the screen, a black boxer in navy blue trunks swung his elbow at his opponents eyes, stopping just a moment before the attack hit but made his opponent flinch back in surprise, leaving him open to get a huge left uppercut clean to the rib, the opponent’s face grimacing in pain. 

However, he looked at his opponent and tried to attack, but his eyes widened as Crash nearly headbutt him, stopping a moment before like before, and making him step back, and receive yet another punch clean to the chest, making him cough up blood.

Zee stared with a deep frown.

“Using feinted fouls to scare his opponent” noted Kabuki  
“Has he ever actually fouled?” asked Kojo while leaning forward

“Let me see” said Binya, fast forwarding through the video

Zee looked to the screen closely, seeing the black boxer staring at his opponents with a cold look, attacking his opponents with sharp uppercuts, specifically to the bottom of ribs and diaphragm, Binya stopped fast forwarding.

“Oooh! Crash is on the ropes!” exclaimed the commentator as the black boxer was forced into a corner by his opponent, landing swift hard jabs to try and break through Crash’s guard.

In the end, when he pulled his fist back, Crash suddenly lunged forward, shoulder barging him while pressing his head against his shoulder. Suddenly his opponent screamed out while being span into the corner, as Crash backed up, Zee’s eyes widened at the sight of blood dripping from Crash’s mouth, a deep bite mark in his opponent’s shoulder. 

Before he could recover however, Crash slammed his right fist straight into his opponent’s stomach, making him throw up all over his arm before collapsing to the ground. 

Binya stared before pausing the video and putting the remote down. By then, Kojo and Zee were staring at Binya while Binya tapped his fingers against his knuckles. 

“From what I researched, Crash has one about 7 times and has lost thrice, twice due to fouls” replied Coach while shaking his head “That bite was on his 4th match, he hasn’t been caught since”  
“So either he’s not doing so many fouls, or he’s being more subtle” said Kabuki with a frown, shutting one eye “Both of which are dangerous”  
“How come?” asked Binya, looking to Kabuki  
“Because if he’s using more subtle fouls, it means he can destroy your momentum, and possibly end your boxing career” explained Kojo in a worried tone  
“And if he isn’t, it means he doesn’t need to use fouls” replied Coach before pointing to the remote “Go to his most recent match”

“Right” said Binya before fast forwarding more through the video, stopping right at the beginning of a match where Crash was standing at the left corner, and Binya blinked in surprise at the sight of Kenji at the other side  
“Kenji?” asked Zee in a surprised tone  
“Yup” said Kabuki, rubbing his chin with his thumb while narrowing his eyes

Kojo frowned a bit at that, leaning forward.

“While Kenji’s an infighter, Crash seems to be a hybrid, able to switch between the two” Kojo said slowly, leaning his chin on his fist “Crash uses feints so he’s more technical, at least that’s what I believe”  
“You’re right” said Zee with a nod of agreement, somewhat surprised that such a young guy would be able to figure that out  
“Alright enough talk, play it” ordered Coach, gesturing to the screen

Binya nodded slowly before pressing play on the remote.


	7. The training begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Binya begins his training for his match against Crash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long delay, lack of motivation + life worries = lack of writing ;w;

When Binya had battled Kenji, it was somewhat obvious that the duo were neck and neck in terms of boxing skill and prowess, probably one of the main reasons why Binya had managed to even beat him. But what he saw in Kenji’s match with Crash…was an utter slaughter.

No matter what Kenji did to try and corner Crash and pin him down, Crash almost always managed to slip away using his feints alone. When Binya fought Kenji, it took him almost 6 rounds to beat him, and he came out with several broken ribs. Crash beat him in two with his harsh uppercuts. And only got hit once. 

“He didn’t use a single foul” muttered Zee with a deep frown  
“So he’s so skilled, he doesn’t need to use them anymore” muttered Kojo   
“From what I can see, his main technique seems to be feints. But a video tape doesn’t show everything” sighed Coach while shaking his head “He’s fast, like Kojo said, he can seamlessly move between in and out boxing. Unlike you or Kenji, his attacks are almost instantaneous, so they’ll be difficult to counter”  
“Compared to the fight Kenji gave you, Crash is going to give you the fight of your life” sighed Zee

“What’s up with all this tragic dramatacisim?” asked Binya while glancing around at everyone, an eyebrow raised “You forget I beat Kenji and I’m going to beat Crash too!”

The room was silent for a moment before Coach rubbed his head a bit.

“I should’ve expected that reaction from you. Go get some rest and tomorrow we’ll start working on preparing” said Coach while taking the tape out of the VCR and looking to the window “all of you should start heading home, it’s going to snow even more later tonight”

“Right, come on Zee” sighed Binya as he hopped to his feet and rubbed his hands together  
Zee glanced to Binya for a moment before elbowing his arm to get his attention.  
“Dramaticism?” he asked while raising an eyebrow  
“You’re not my English teacher” snickered Binya   
“Maybe I should be, that way we don’t have to split the rent” said Zee with a smirk  
“sure sure” said Binya with a wave of his hand

As the two walked out from the gym, Kabuki leaned against a wall slowly while Kojo rubbed his chin thoughtfully, still sitting on the couch. 

“So, what do you think?” asked Kabuki to Coach and Kojo, who was putting the tape in a drawer  
“He’s a hybrid fighter who specializes in using feints” muttered Kojo  
“A nightmare for a counter puncher like Binya” added Coach before frowning and taking his glasses off to clean them   
“My thoughts exactly, and Binya knows it” sighed Kabuki while rubbing his face “…I got no hope for him”  
“You have no hope for anyone” replied Coach  
“Not true, I’m hopeful about myself a lot” snickered Kabuki, getting a subtle facepalm from Kojo

“Either way. If you ask me, Binya’s going to have to do a lot more training than he did with Kenji, and he’s going to need to manage Crash’s speed” said Kojo  
“mmph, my thoughts exactly” sighed Coach “Kabuki, you’re not going to like this-“  
“That’s a given” added Kabuki  
“But I’m going to need your help with what I have In mind for him” finished Coach  
“Wonderful” he sighed with a roll of his eyes

\---the next day---

Being a Saturday, Zee would have rather done anything but wake up early. He had made it a rule to Binya and himself that Zee isn’t woken up early on a Saturday morning. But when Zee was awoken by the sound of the door slamming shut, he didn’t seem as annoyed as he thought he’d be.

Sitting up with a yawn, he scratched his face slowly while glancing out a window in time to see the hooded figure of Binya, wearing his track suit and shooting out swift jabs and crosses in the air before sprinting through the snow out of his view. Off he was, already training. Well, who could blame him? Crash wasn’t somebody to take lightly at all, especially for a counter puncher like Binya. 

“Welp” he sighed while getting to his feet and stretching “Saturday and nothing to mark for once, what am I going to do, hm…”   
His thoughts were interrupted by rather harsh knocking on the door, followed by the words “Wake up you lazy ass time to get to work!” 

He blinked while looking to the door, the hell was banging on his door at such a time?   
“Don’t be so loud, other people are asleep in the building you know” grumbled Zee while shuffling across the hallway to the door and pulling it open.

WHAM

He received a rather strong punch right to the forehead, the force sending him flying across the hall and right off his feet.

“That’s for keeping me waiting Bi-“ began the voice before suddenly going silent  
“The flying fuck was that for!?” snapped Zee in English while glaring at Kabuki who was raising his hands a little bit  
“Sorry man, I thought that was Binya” he sighed while rubbing his left knuckle “You okay?”  
“Yeah, I’ll be fine” sighed Zee while getting to his feet and rubbing his face slowly “Do you usually come see Binya early in the morning to beat the hell out of him?”  
“Nah this is my first time” replied Kabuki while scratching the faint stubble on his chin “where is he anyway?”  
“went off to do roadwork already” replied Zee, pointing out a window with his thumb “you just missed him”

“Really? Good” he said with a nod, before looking into the kitchen and blinking “…you’d think a ramen chef would keep his kitchen in better condition”  
“Preaching to the choir there Kabuki” sighed Zee with a snort “If you go now you’ll probably be able to catch up to him”   
“Nah I know where he’s going” replied Kabuki as he walked in and shutting the door with his door “before I go, I need to look for something”

Zee raised an eyebrow while folding his arms.  
“What would that something be?” asked Zee  
“If we find it you’ll see” he replied with a sly grin, walking around slowly “where’s Binya’s room?” 

Zee narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but pointed to Binya’s room regardless. The sly grin on Kabuki’s face grew as he walked in, the floor boards creaking under his weight while Zee followed along behind him. Unlike the kitchen, Binya’s room was fairly clean, or at least it seemed as if Binya had made an attempt to clean it, clothes were shoved in the cupboard, magazines and such were put in messy piles upon a table which had been shoved into a corner next to his single bed. Zee didn’t usually head into Binya’s room to give him privacy, but when he looked in his eyes noticed the trophy that was on a shelf near the door, along with a pair of red boxing gloves.

“Alright then” said Kabuki, crouching down and glancing under the bed, only to see nothing “hm, not here”   
Getting up, he looked around the room slowly, humming a single tone as he did, Zee watching him while leaning on the doorway, wondering what the large man was looking for. Taking purposeful steps, Kabuki went to the cupboard and looked around it, frowning before heading to the table “wow, not here”

“What are you looking for?” asked Zee again, in a more forward tone this time  
“Guess I was wrong” sighed Kabuki before looking to Zee “gay porn”  
“What.”   
“Wanted to see if Binya really did get those magazines by accident, just curiosity” said Kabuki with a wave of his hand “Anyway, I’m off, seeya” 

Before Zee could say another word, Kabuki had left and kicked the door shut behind him. A little bewildered at what had just happened, Zee slowly shook his head while putting his hand over his face, now noticing the faint throbbing pain in his forehead from the punch he received. Without a doubt, that punch was certainly a strong one, if what he thought was true, he and Binya’s fights must’ve been a sight to see.

“Still, what a weird guy, coming over just to look for porn” muttered Zee, before scratching his cheek.

Now that he thought about it, had Binya returned it or hidden it in the apartment…and if he did, where had he hidden it? His eyes slowly scanned the apartment, his curiosity beginning to tempt him rather strongly.

“Ah screw it, what’s the harm in looking” he sighed as he began to search around.

\---

Binya stood in front of a punching bag that swayed left and right, bouncing on the balls of his feet as his eyes followed the bag’s swift rhythm. 

“3…2…1” he muttered before suddenly stepping forward with his right foot tightened his left guard, twisted his hips and swung a huge counter hook towards the punching bag, the attack sending the punching bag flying to the side

As the bag returned to swing towards him, he swiveled around the punching bag and slammed a one-two combo to it’s back, before leaping back once again, swinging his fists into the bag again and again while moving around it, his eyes narrowed, his brow furrowed, his body tense as he concentrated on moving around the bag and counter acting it’s momentum with his punches. 

As Binya beat the ever-living hell out of his punching bag, Coach sat down on a stool while watching him, shutting one eye as he sat in the corner, the midday sunlight easing in through a window reflecting upon his glasses. He had been sitting there stock still, watching Binya attack his punching bag while he observed, deep in thought. 

“Coach, I’m back” said Kojo, panting slightly as he leaned against the entrance  
“Good” said Coach with a nod “You seen Kabuki?”  
“He was right behind me” replied Kojo, pointing behind him as Kabuki walked up the stairs with his hands in his pockets  
“Is he here already?” asked Kabuki, before looking over to Binya “Well, well he is”  
“Mm” said Coach with a nod before looking to Kojo and Kabuki before sighing, getting up to his feet

Binya continued to lay into the boxing bag before finishing with a final straight that knocked the punching bag back to a point where it nearly fell off it’s chain. 

“Phew” sighed Binya, turning to walk away while rubbing his forehead, only for the punching bag to return with a vengeance and smack him in the back, knocking him onto his stomach with an “oof!”

“You clumsy idiot” sighed Kabuki while walking over and picking Binya up by his shirt  
“Oh shut up” snapped Binya while pulling his gloves off “where’ve you been anyway? You’re late”  
“I was at your apartment looking for gay pornography” he replied in a matter of fact tone while reaching back and tying his hair into a pony tail behind him  
“Youdidwhatnow” he snarled while glaring at him

“Oi, enough” ordered Coach while walking between them “Binya, we’re going to think of a strategy on how to deal with Crash. Kojo and I already made a plan earlier today, Kabuki will help you prepare for it”

Binya blinked before looking to Kojo and Coach, smiling slightly for a moment before clearing his throat.

“I would’ve figured it out on my own you know, no need to go through that trouble just for me” he said while shaking his hand slightly   
“Don’t worry, when my next match is up you can repay me by acting as my punching bag” replied Kabuki  
“Piss off.”

“Anyway, Binya put on some protective gear, head into the ring, Kabuki, you too” ordered Coach while getting to his feet

Kabuki nodded and went to the supply closet to get a pair of gloves, helmet and a vest while Binya climbed into the ring and hopped on the balls of his feet, already having put on his gear.  
“Alright Coach, Kojo, what’s the training plan” said Binya as he looked down at them both  
“From what we saw, Crash is an aggressive infighter who focuses on using feints to confuse the opponent as he closes the distance” explained Kojo “As a counter puncher that’s a deadly combination, we need to condition you to learn what’s a feint and what’s not so you can counter at the right time”  
“A crash course in feints huh?” Binya asked while leaning against the ropes “alright let’s do it, Kabuki, quit messing around and get your ass in here!”  
“Still as eager as ever to get punched in the face I see” noted Kabuki as he climbed in and took an orthodox boxing stance

“Alright Binya we’re going to start from the basics, in order to counter you need to get someone into your own sense of rhythm” explained Coach before pointing to Kabuki “first you observe him for half a round or so, once you’ve spotted and remembered his timing, pull him into your rhythm to make him more predictable, and counter at key moments.”

As Coach said this, Kabuki’s fist suddenly thrust forward, sending a gust of wind towards Binya’s ribs, but he spun to face him and knocked the fist away before swinging his fist up at Kabuki’s open chin in a short uppercut, stopping just at his chin.

“Please I got your rhythm down pat you ass.” Said Binya with a smirk  
“Oh really?” asked Kabuki before stepping back and immediately stepping in, ramping up his speed to slam his fist into Binya’s diaphragm in an uppercut, the air being shoved right out of his lungs as he resisted the urge to bend over

Binya quickly leaped back but Kabuki’s right fist rocketed towards his head. Tilting his head to the right, Binya was about to swing a cross counter straight when his attack ended up passing through air, Kabuki crouched down under his arms before rising up and ramming another uppercut into his gut, sending him flying a few inches off the ground before he collapsed onto the ropes.

“Way too easy” tutted Kabuki as Binya glared at him  
“Binya, you need to learn how to stop and go with your rhythm. A fient takes advantage of what the opponent believes will happen and attacks in a way that they don’t expect” explained Coach   
“I know I know” said Binya while raising his fists up in a more defensive stance, spreading his legs a bit “Okay let me try something, come at me”

Kabuki nodded and immediately stepped in towards him, swinging a right straight towards him. Binya watched the fist as it barreled towards his guard, before Binya suddenly leaped back into the ropes, moving farther than the punch, and propelled forward while suddenly lashing out with a left jab

WHAM

Kabuki’s fist slammed clean into his stomach and Binya promptly collapsed on the canvas, groaning as he did.

“Get your ass up Binya” said Kabuki while crouching down near him “We’re going to keep going until you can manage my feints”  
“I’m getting up jeez” growled Binya, pressing his hands into the mat and hopping up to his feet before raising his fists in a stance once again 

Kojo frowned as he watched Kabuki trip Binya up with yet another feint and slammed a powerful blow into him, glancing to Coach who linked his hands under his chin as he watched.

After failing to manage a counter between the feints, Binya punched the corner post in frustration, the ring’s ropes shaking with the force, before he turned to Kabuki again and raised his fists. 

“Maybe we should take a break” suggested Kabuki, leaning his head back slightly while frowning down at Binya, who was still roaring to go.  
“Not until I get the hang of this. Come at me again!” snapped Binya  
“Hold on” said Coach while getting up from his stool and going closer to the ring “I want to see something. Binya, I want you to treat every punch like it’s a feint and instead of trying to counter, move back.”

“Take more of an out boxer’s approach?” Binya asked while blinking “mm…okay”  
“Kabuki, I want you to continue with your feints, but try to counter his out boxing strategy” said Coach as he returned to sitting on his stool, Kojo watching closely 

Kabuki returned to his orthodox stance before suddenly thrusting his right straight forward towards Binya, stopping just before in a feint and swinging a large hook at his head. But, as he threw the straight Binya hopped back out of it’s range and began to move around him, his feet moving swiftly as he suddenly lunged in and swung a swift jab towards his head.

Kabuki ducked under the jab and tried to rush in while pulling his right back, about to send it forward when Binya swung his right down at his head before he could get a chance, the right straight slamming straight into Kabuki’s cheek in a counter and sending his head to the side and Kabuki stumbling back from the force. 

“Hm, whether or not Crash tries to use feints it won’t matter if Binya uses a hit and run strategy” muttered Kobo while rubbing his chin silently “Unless…”

Binya quickly stepped in and tried to land more jabs on him, but Kabuki himself promptly stepped backwards to dodge the jab and then rushed in as he pulled in, thrusting his left fist towards his head in a left straight. Binya swiftly thrust his right forward in a cross counter, only for his fist to pass through empty air. 

Binya stared and looked down in time to get a large uppercut clean to the gut, a piercing pain exploding in his gut despite the armour, before he collapsed on the floor with a groan. Kabuki frowned as he rubbed his fist, before gripping him by the collar of shirt and pulled him up to his feet, looking over to Coach as he did.

“If he can predict that right counter Binya’s out-boxing would be decimated” muttered Coach while frowning   
“What’re you just standing around there for?” said Binya while looking over to Kabuki and pushing him back so he could take a stance “We’ve only just started. Come at me again!”

\---

Having finished marking most of the homework from his class, Zee wasn’t really sure what to do just hanging about back in the apartment. Truth be told, after having found nothing of the homo-erotic variety within the apartment, all he could do was watch T.V and wonder how Binya’s training was doing. Having called him to try and quench his curiosity, he was promptly rewarded with the distinct sound of Binya’s ringtone from underneath the couch.

So there he was a few hours later, rubbing his face to warm it up as he walked up the stairs towards the gym he had left earlier, Binya’s phone within his pocket. As he gripped the door handle, he promptly heard the sound of a fist smashing into a solid surface and a body hitting the canvas. Glancing at his watch, he noted that it was about 4 in the afternoon. Binya left at 6 in the morning, had he really been training that long?

Zee pulled the door open and looked to the ring to see Binya grasping the ropes and yanking himself up to his feet, his face filled with bruises despite the helmet he wore. Kabuki was panting somewhat, seeming more tired than injured, as he leaned against the ropes of the ring. 

“The hell kind’ve training have you been doing?” asked Zee as he walked over, making Binya blink and look towards him  
“Zee…man? What’re you… doing here?” he asked between pants

Coach looked over to him while blinking, surprised at Zee’s sudden arrival, while Zee himself pulled out Binya’s phone from his jacket pocket. 

“This, you left it at home” he explained before gesturing between him and Kabuki “Didn’t mean to interrupt”  
“They were just finishing” replied Coach as he stood up from his stool and rubbed his face “Kabuki, Binya, go take a shower, we’re done practicing for today”  
“What? But-“ began Binya before Kabuki lightly pat his shoulder   
“You can barely stand right now. Come on” he said before dragging him off to the showers

Zee watched them go before rubbing the back of his neck and sitting down on the edge of the ring, glancing at boxers continuing to practice within the gym.

“How’s he doing?” Zee asked while pressing his hands against the canvas  
“To be honest, I don’t know” sighed Coach while shutting his eyes and taking off his glasses “He’s determined, more so than ever, I had to convince him to take a break to eat something today. But-“  
“You don’t think he’s ready” sighed Zee  
“Not in the slightest. At the level he’s at if he fights Crash he will be decimated” sighed Coach as he cleaned his glasses “The next match is in about 4 months, so he has time to train and level up, hopefully, but I’m not sure if it’d be enough”

Zee furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes.

“He has a chance” he said firmly, looking towards Coach “What exactly does he need to do in his training to beat Crash?”  
“Today I made him spar with someone faster than him so he could get used to the speed and with the sudden feints” he explained “We need to increase his speed and his focus, and figure out how to defeat those feints”

Zee glanced to the side for a moment.

“mm…maybe I can help” he suggested

Coach shook his head and waved his hand

“No offense. I know that you used to box, but you’re not experienced in Japanese boxing, things are different here compared to in the states” he said while frowning somewhat

Zee exhaled through his nose, his mind going back to Mashiba and his brutal beat down of that Nigerian, as well as to the match between Binya and Kenji. He had to admit, he hadn’t seen anything similar to that in the states, not even out of the professional ring. 

“fair point, I suppose” sighed Zee while shutting one eye, his hand tightening around the edge of the ring, but said in English “but boxing is boxing no matter where it happens”  
“Come again?” asked Coach, blinking  
“Nothing, nothing” he said while shaking his head 

\---

It was near pitch black that evening, with flakes of snow showering down onto the street, accompanied with a freezing wind that sent chills through Binya’s spine despite the layers he was wearing. 

“So that was the first day of training for you” sighed Kojo while folding his arms behind his head  
“Yeah well, it’s just the first day, first days are always shit compared to the rest” said Binya while putting his hands in track suit pockets “Though you could have pulled your punches Kabuki, I’m sore as hell”  
“Don’t be such a bitch” snickered Kabuki “I’m sore too you know”  
“You hit like a train and you’re barely bruised” noted Zee, walking along next to the trio

“Want me to hit you again?” asked Kabuki while cracking his knuckles   
“Hit him and I kick you into a car” replied Binya while raising an eyebrow  
“Come on you two calm” sighed Kojo while gripping both of their shoulders 

Kabuki and Binya growled but eventually they backed up from each other and sighed.

“I’ve a match in four months, I can’t waste my time squashing bugs like him anyway” said Binya  
“Say that again after you’ve grown a few inches” replied Kabuki with a sly smile

This time it took Zee grasping his track suit to stop him from attacking the smug Kabuki. 

“Tall cocky mother fucker” sighed Binya after he eventually calmed down and adjusted his track suit top  
“That’s what I’m known for” he said, keeping his grin

Binya eyed him before sighing and looking up at the sky.

“Mm…I think this next match…is going to be important in some way” muttered Binya  
Kabuki and Kojo blinked at that before exchanging glances, seeming to understand what he was talking about. Zee however was still left out of the loop.  
“Why do you say that?” asked Zee in confusion

Binya looked to him before looking at his hands, clenching them into fists.

“Each time I win a match I lose one aswell. My track record is completely 50/50 in terms of wins and losses. I won my match against Kenji, barely so but I did. If I don’t beat Crash, I’ll be back exactly where I started” he explained as he began to look at the sky

Zee frowned slowly before holding Binya’s shoulder and then giving him a thumbs up.

“You’ll do it.” He said firmly “Not sure if it means much but you’ve my support, and the support of Kojo and Kabuki aswell, right?”  
“Ofcourse” said Kojo with a nod  
“Well he’ll need all the support he can get” replied Kabuki with a smile

Binya looked between the trio before exhaling through his nose and chuckling, smiling a bit himself.

“You guys” he sighed before he raised his fist up “Alright. I will put my entire effort into my next match, and with you guys pushing me along I’m sure I’ll beat him.”  
“That’s the spirit” said Zee with a grin  
“Come on then, to celebrate let’s go get something to eat, the four of us, on me” said Kabuki while pointing to himself with his thumb  
“How oddly generous of you senpai” noted Kojo before getting tapped on te head with his elbow  
“I’m generous when I need to be” he said with a grin before he walked forward “Come on you three, let’s find a good place to eat before I change my mind.


	8. Future Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the date of the match rises in the horizon, Binya must make an important decision in his training, and we are introduced to Crash

It had been two weeks since Crash had found the name of his new opponent. “Rising Star”, a pretentious name at best, an utterly stupid one at worst. Despite the idiotic name, he had to admit, the man it belonged to was an enigma to him. The matches of his he had won seemed to show skill of sorts, but the last match he lost…It was almost as if the two matches had different boxers completely. Exhaling through his nose, he looked down at the sink in front of him, the brown eyes of his reflection staring back from the water. 

“I will beat him” he said simply to his reflection, before splashing the cold water onto his face  
As he did, he’d suddenly hear barking along with small claws scratching at the bathroom door, and blinked as he looked at it before walking over to see a grey german shepherd looking up at him while panting. Crash blinked and raised an eyebrow before smiling and crouching down and scratching the back of the dog’s head while leaning his forehead against it’s own.

“Hey Sasha, you ready to do some road work girl?” he asked while tilting his head

Sasha barked in response before licking him on the mouth and nose while wagging her tail. 

“Alright alright come on” he said, getting up and picking a blue scarf up from a table before wrapping it around his neck “Let’s get going girl”

A few minutes later, Crash and Sasha were running through the snow and chilled early morning air, taking a path through the nearby park. Because it was so early in the day, there wasn’t a single soul in sight other than them both, no noises except the light pants of Crash and Sasha, and the sound of snow crushing under their feet. 

“Hey, Sasha” said Crash while looking down to the dog, who was easily keeping pace with him “I’m going to be training a lot at the gym again today, I know you don’t like it but you’re going to have to stay at the centre again”  
Sasha let out a whine of disapproval as she ran, rubbing up against his leg and nearly making him slip in the snow  
“Come on it won’t be that bad!” he exclaimed “You get to hang around with Orai and Suki” 

She whined still while continuing to rub against his leg. Crash sighed and slowed down to a stop, crouching down near her and scratching the back of her neck   
“Hey hey, just a few more months and then we’ll be back as usual, kay?” he asked before nuzzling his nose against the top of her head.

Sasha’s tail wagged a bit from this action, and she shut her eyes for a moment, as if considering, before eventually she licked his cheek. 

“good girl. How about this evening I get you a treat?” he asked while smiling a bit and scratching her chin with his thumb  
She promptly barked and tackled him to the floor so that she could lick him even more, Crash snickering and trying to get her off as he did.

An hour later, Crash and Sasha walked in through the door of a purple building with large windows, stickers of happy dogs visible upon the windows. Crash glanced around at the yellow and purple painted reception room, yellow dog prints painted on the floor leading to a door near the counter, where a woman was currently sleeping with her face hidden in her arms, her grey hair splayed across her arms.

Sasha blinked at this and was about to bark when Crash held her head to stop her, putting his finger to his mouth before sneaking forward slowly. Sasha tilted her head curiously, watching as Crash went right behind the woman and suddenly tickled her ribs while yelling “Wakey wakey!”

The woman yelped and sat right up before spinning to face the grinning Crash.  
“Hideyoshi!” she exclaimed while pulling a magazine from her lap and whacking his head with it “You nearly gave me a heart attack!” 

Crash smiled and leaned against a wall, looking at the elderly woman that still glared at him.

“Ms. Kino you’ve been alive since the death of the dinosaurs, I don’t think a measly heart attack would bring you down” snickered Crash, being rewarded with yet another whack.  
“I may drop dead one day if you keep doing that” she warned before looking to Sasha who was wagging her tail and walking over “Here to drop Sasha again?”  
“Mhmm” said Crash with a nod, looking to the door on the left “Got to do training today…say, can I go take a look at the dogs today?”

“Of course Hideyoshi, you know that you’re always welcome to” she said while picking up a cane and walking over to the door, and pushing it open.   
Crash walked in and was almost instantly swarmed by a horde of barking puppies. 

“Heeeeeey!” laughed Crash as he crouched down and ruffled each puppy in turn, that is until a jealous Sasha bounded forward and barked loudly, causing them to scatter except for one Crash was holding in his hands.

“There are so many more than last time” said Crash as he walked in more, glancing at the snow covered sky light above that shed cool light onto the dogs going about their business in the large room, some sleeping in cots, others drinking and eating or just playing around with each other.

“You’ve been saying that ever since you came here as a child” she chuckled  
“Because it’s true, first time it was only puppy Sasha and a handful of dogs” he said as he cuddle the puppy in his arms, getting tiny licks to the face in response  
“More and more are being found and cared for, and more and more are adopting them” she said with a smile   
“That’s wonderful” he said before sighing and putting the puppy down “when I win my next match I’ll send you the money again, maybe you could get some reliable staff here or fix the leaky pipes”  
“You keep doing that and there won’t be any leaks to fix” she chuckled  
“that’s the point” he chuckled before stretching “Alright, I’m off, I’ll see you a bit later Ms. Kino”  
“Don’t strain yourself too much” she said while tapping him with her foot “And if you get cut don’t bleed on the dogs again”

“Yes ma’am” she said with a nod, walking out and continuing to jog towards his gym.

\---

Kojo watched Binya laying into a punching bag with powerful hooks, sending the bag from side to side. Kojo himself was bouncing over a skipping rope while exhaling slowly. He and Kabuki had been sparring for the past couple of weeks, and even though usually Kabuki was superior to Binya as a boxer over all, even when Kabuki was holding back and physically pulling his punches Binya was rocked. Any counter he made went through air due to the feints and he barely manages to land a hit.

There were only two ways to manage a feint fighter. Don’t give them a chance to attack at all, or block everything they throw at you. Both strategies were difficult in themselves. Managing to get Binya, a defensive counter puncher by nature, is even more difficult. What’s worse? He’d need to build his body up to fit one of those options, in under 4 months.

But those were his options. Binya needed to learn how to tone down his offense or dial it up to 11. Personally Kojo knew Binya could do it, but what he didn’t know was if he’d do it in time, or if it’d kill his spirit in the process. Only one way to find out. 

As he stopped skipping, he’d suddenly get a boxing glove tossed at his head. Blinking he glanced over to see Kabuki walking over with Coach, sweat evident on Kabuki’s forehead while Coach was pulling off the pads from his hands.

“Were you two upstairs again?” asked Kojo curiously  
“Yes we were” sighed Coach while rubbing his slightly bruised hands “So, how’s Binya doing?”

Kojo pointed to Binya, who was now repeatedly slamming his left into the punching bag before twisting his hips and slamming his right into the bag to send it rocking backwards. 

Watching the bag fly back, he looked down at his fists and rubbed them slowly, only to promptly get smacked by the bag yet again, not paying attention to the vengeful training tool. 

“That’s the fifth time this week you dumbass!” laughed Kabuki

Binya glared at him from the floor before pulling himself up to his feet and went right over to Kabuki until they were face to face.

“Scuse me?” he asked while narrowing his eyes  
“You heard me, wanna go again?” asked Kabuki with a smirk, only for the smirk to be whipped away by Coach hitting the back of his head with his pad “You just did an intense session Kabuki, you’d do damage to yourself if you spar Binya now.”  
“I’ve an idea” said Kojo while walking up, getting Kabuki and Binya’s attention.  
“You do?” asked Coach while pushing his glasses up his nose “What is it?”

Kojo nodded before explaining it in detail to the trio, along with how long he thought it’d take, and what Binya would have to do in each option.

“So… I learn to be more offensive or be more defensive?” asked Binya while rubbing his chin   
“Either focus on in-fighting or out-fighting” muttered Coach while rubbing his chin “Don’t give him a chance to fight back or tire him out before attacking yourself. That’s an interesting idea, no, not just interesting, it’s a valid idea it could work against a feint fighter like Crash”  
“Only question is” said Kabuki “Which route do we go? Which would be more effective?”

“I think defensive, if he tires him out then Binya could easily go to his usual style and defeat him with precise counters” explained Kojo “All he’d need to do is train his body and learn how to weave so he can take more hits if need be”  
“But if he goes offensive, he’d have more chances to bring Crash down, and it can shorten the length of the match so he can make less mistakes” said Kabuki 

Binya glanced between them both before shaking his head.  
“you’re forgetting something” he said before tapping his chin “Crash went psycho and bit him when he was on the ropes. If offense truly is that effective it could make him go that way again” 

They all went silent at that, before they looked towards Binya.

“So, what’s your choice?” asked Coach

Binya thought for a moment, going silent while folding his arms and shutting his eyes. There was silence amongst them before Binya nodded.

“I know what I’m going to pick” he said firmly

\---

Zee wasn’t quite sure what to think when he got home. He had had a long day at school, dealing with delinquents and Koji’s teasing shenanigans. He really wanted to just relax, maybe get some sleep or sit around while eating some yakitori. So when he opened his door, the last thing he wanted was to have steam blast into his face, the entire apartment looking like a sauna.

“What the…Binya what the fuck is going on here!?” snapped Zee as he entered and shut the door behind him  
Binya blinked and leaned his head out from around a corner, wearing a rather thick sweat suit, the suit almost making him look like a telly-tubby. Zee sweat dropped at this, specifically at the image of Binya and telly-tubbies chasing a vacuum about a metal room, before shaking his head and standing up straight.

“Sup Zee? How was work?” Binya asked casually  
“Don’t try to change the subject on me, the hell is all this!?” he exclaimed while waving steam out of his face  
“Oh this? It’s steam” he said while walking into the kitchen and returning with an apple  
“I know it’s freaking- why is there steam in here! How is there steam in he- are you wasting all the hot water!?” he exclaimed

“Don’t be such a party pooper” said Binya while tapping Zee’s forehead with the apple “The steam’s coming from the boiler, I turned the heating all the way up too so I could sweat”  
Zee gave him a deadpan expression while going “eh?”  
“I’ve got some serious weight loss to do. So I gotta sweat” he replied  
“Eh…but, but the match is over three months away-“ began Zee, exasperated by how casual Binya was acting

“It’s all strategy my dear boy” he said before biting into his apple “You see, I’ve got to build my body up so I can be more defensive against Crash, but first I have to get rid of most of my fat”  
To clarify, he tapped Zee on the stomach, much to his annoyance.  
“After that, my body is a template for me to build upon” he explained “At least that’s how Kojo put it”  
“If you want to lose weight do more road work and stop eating ramen” sighed Zee, putting his briefcase on the sitting room desk and glancing at the T.V, to see it covered in a blanket, probably to protect it from the steam

“I’m already doing that” he said with his mouth full, gesturing to the apple before swallowing it  
“So is this sauna really necessary?” sighed Zee while pulling off his jacket, already beginning to sweat himself  
“Ofcourse it is” said Binya while pointing to him “Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it, duh”

Zee sighed and rubbed sweat off of his head.  
“I never had to go through this, Jesus” he sighed  
“That’s because weight didn’t matter for you” replied Binya in a matter of fact tone  
“Yeah I guess so” muttered Zee while sitting down “Wait, is the steam in my room too?”  
“I tried to block it off with towels but it didn’t work, got in through the floor boards. Guess we’re both in this together eh?” snickered Binya as he hopped onto the couch next to him   
“Wonderful” groaned Zee while resting his head in his hands  
“Come on don’t be that way. You wouldn’t lose much if you lost a couple of pounds. Other than, well, a couple of pounds” he snickered

Zee groaned and slouched down more in his couch. When he said he would do whatever it took to support Binya in his training to beat Crash, he never thought it’d involve him having to do this. Ugh boy, what had he gotten himself into?


	9. And the training continues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As time goes on, Binya continues his training towards beating Crash, as he does, Zee discovers something interesting about Crash and, with some help, decides to investigate.

“Say hentai sensei, have you been losing weight?” asked Koji, glancing up from her paper at Zee’s stomach  
Zee sighed slowly as he pressed his palm against his face while groaning   
“Focus on your paper Koji” he muttered, ignoring the chuckles he heard from people around the class

It had been a week since Binya had turned their home from a modest apartment to an annoying sauna. Despite the amount of time, he had yet to get used to it, and he truly doubted he’d ever get used to waking up everyday in a pool of his own sweat. At least he only needed to get used to it for another day. He had to admit though, Kojo’s strategy was certainly effective, Binya was noticeably leaner in the week he had stopped eating ramen and sweat himself out more. Even Zee was losing a few pounds, mainly because of the fact that Binya had locked the fridge, and forgot the code (how they’ll deal with that, Zee had no idea, he was more tempted to learn how to use a hammer and chisel than have to deal with eating nothing but apples and fruit all day when he was at home). 

“There I go again, not thinking about class” he thought while glancing out a window, listening to his students as they wrote their essays “I’m surprised I’ve not been called out on it, at least not yet”

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing and he glanced up to the clock. 

“Huh, tests over kids” he said before patting the table “Leave your tests here, you’ll get your scores in three days at most”

As instructed, the tired students shuffled along, dropped their papers and eventually filed out of the class. All except for one, Zee didn’t even have to look back from the window to know who it was.

“What is it now Koji?” he sighed while looking to her  
“I need you help for something important” she said while leaning forward on her chair

Zee blinked and looked towards her while raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t usual that Koji would do much than make his school life rather difficult, the amount of times he had been called “hentai-sensei” even by his fellow teachers was beginning to just become normality for him. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked while leaning forward and clasping his hands together   
“I need you to help me buy something” she explained  
Zee blinked a bit before tilting his head quizzically, waving his hand to motion for her to explain more  
“It’s my friend’s birthday and I’m getting him something” she said while propping her chin on her hand “To get what I need, I gotta have an adult to do it”

Zee rubbed his light beard while exhaling from his nose and sighing more.   
“I thought you were 18?” he asked   
“Don’t have an ID” she sighed  
“Then ask your parents?”

She shook her head at that.

“Look Sensei I just need your help here okay?” she asked

Zee was silent for a bit before getting up and putting the papers in his briefcase

“Okay, lead me to this place” he sighed while slinging his briefcase over his shoulder and put his other hand in his jacket pocket “And if I hear rumor spreading because of this, or If you expect me to buy porn, I will not be happy.”  
“Pff don’t worry I promise, no rumors will be caused from me and you won’t be buying porn” she reassured while getting to her feet as well and shouldering her bag  
“I certainly hope so” he said while gesturing for her to go along

The walk along was rather quiet, and incredibly cold. Zee once again was regretting not buying something much more warming than his trusty leather jacket. The walk took longer than he expected, pretty much an hour. As they had gone along, the snow fall intensified and it got so cold they had to stop somewhere to grab cans of warm coffee. Soon after, they finally arrived at the destination.

“Is this an orphanage for…dogs?” asked Zee as he looked the purple and yellow building over  
“Yeah, I’m getting him a little puppy” replied Koji with a grin  
“Huh, I see” he said before walking along inside to see an old woman sitting down on a chair, watching a small portable T.V while eating popcorn

“Hello?” asked Koji as she went towards the woman, Zee walking along behind her  
“Oh hello there” she said while looking to her “Can I help you?”  
“We’d like to adopt a dog please” said Koji

Zee raised an eyebrow at the “we” but he said nothing, instead inspecting his can of coke.

“I’d need to see some ID please” she said while leaning forward

Zee promptly pulled out his U.S driving license and handed it to her. She looked it over before nodding and handing it back. Zee put it back in his pocket while beginning to drink his coffee.

“And may I ask the relationship between you two?” she asked  
“He’s my boyfriend” said Koji suddenly

His eyes widened and he nearly spat out his drink, instead choking it down and rubbing his neck. 

“You okay?” asked Koji while blinking   
“I think I nearly died” muttered Zee as he held the counter and rubbed his neck   
“There’s some water in the back, I’ll get it for you” said the woman as she began to get up  
“No no I’ll go get it, there right?” he asked as he walked over to a door to the side  
“Yes, come on dear let’s go get you a doggie” she said as she picked up her cane and hobbled over to the room of dogs, Koji following along behind her.

“I swear she’s trying to kill my social standing” thought Zee as he shut his eyes and opened the door “After this we’re going to have a long talk”  
Sighing, he opened his eyes and blinked as he came face to face with someone a bit taller than him. 

Zee blinked, looking at the tall and lean yet muscular man, noting his strong arms revealed by his sleeveless shirt. But when he saw his face, he froze. Crash’s brown eyes stared down at him, his eyes piercing Zee’s and he almost felt his stomach drop. Gulping slightly, he backed away, Crash continuing to stare at him.

“Can I help you?” Crash asked while tilting his head, smiling a bit

Zee blinked a bit in confusion.

“uh….?”   
“Do you need anything? I’d help but, you know” he said while gesturing to the dog bowls filled with dog food   
“Oh uh, I just needed some water” he muttered  
“Oh, over there” said Crash while gesturing to a bottle of water with his elbow “Make sure to recycle that can thank you”

With that he walked over to the room of dogs, leaving Zee incredibly confused. 

\---

“Okay that cannot be true” said Kabuki while shaking his head   
“I’m not kidding!” exclaimed Zee “Crash was working as an assistant in a dog orphanage!”  
“Dog orphanage?” asked Coach skeptically while raising an eyebrow   
“Civic centre, dog centre, whatever!” exclaimed Zee  
“What were you doing in a dog orphanage anyway?” asked Binya “I thought you preferred cats?”   
“Was getting it for a student- look that’s not important” sighed Zee “What I’m saying is he looked nothing like how he did in those tapes, he was so…friendly”

Kabuki shrugged a bit. 

“A lot of boxers are like that really, I mean look at me, I’m a monster in the ring and a nice guy out of it” he said  
“You’re a dick in the ring and a dick out of the ring” corrected Binya  
“Shadap” replied kabuki while elbowing the top of his head, earning a glare in response   
“Either way, I think this is an important discovery” said Kojo, looking out the window of Coach’s office and outside “If it’s true anyway”

Zee groaned and leaned back against the wall. 

“I think Zee’s telling the truth” said Binya while rubbing his chin “But I geuss it’d explain why he’s calmed down in the ring, he hasn’t bitten anyone in a while, right?”  
“I man who works in such a place, especially for charity, isn’t one who’d bite someone or make a foul out of ill will” said Coach while resting his elbows on his desk and leaning forward in his chair “hm…”

Kojo sat down on a chair before rubbing his chin slowly.

“I think we need more info” Kojo said “If we know his state of mind, we may be able to predict how he’d act in the fight against Binya”  
“We could ask one of the reporters that stops by to interview Mashiba every so often” suggested Binya  
“And let it be known to the public that you’re using cheap tricks like that to get an edge in your match?” asked Kabuki “Don’t be ridiculous”   
“I could ask him” suggested Zee while tilting his head

“Why would a teacher be asking a journalist about a boxer?” asked Coach while raising an eyebrow “bound to raise questions”  
“fair point” sighed Zee while shaking his head

Kojo shut his eyes for a moment before looking to Zee.

“Maybe you can be more helpful than you thought Zee-chan.” Said Kojo   
“Hm?” asked Zee while looking to him  
“How so?” asked Kabuki as he sat on the back of the couch, listening curiously  
“Well, what if a journalist decided that Crash was already going to win against Senpai, so he thought he’d beat the curve and find out Crash’s back story for a front page scoop?” Kojo suggested

Binya and Zee exchanged glances at that.

“It happened to me before, annoyingly enough” sighed Binya   
“Didn’t even know the bastard was a reporter” muttered Zee before rubbing his eyes 

“Pff you two idiots” snickered Kabuki before shutting one eye “But, if a reporter were to ask around, then they may end up digging up something which could be useful”  
“I still don’t see what that has to do with me” said Zee   
“Well, from what I can see, you’re an American” said Kabuki while raising one finger “for another, you’re not exactly well known” He raised another “Also, other than your hair and skin tone, there’s not much that’s distinguishable about you”

“Are you saying I should pretend to be a reporter and snoop around?” sighed Zee while shutting his eyes  
“Exactly” said Kojo with a nod   
“oi…” sighed Zee while rubbing his face “I dunno that seems so…dirty”  
“You did say you’d support Binya in anyway you could” pointed out Kabuki  
“You mother fucker.” Thought Zee while shutting his eyes “Fine fine I’ll do it, but don’t expect me to do this with every boxer you fight against” 

“Usually we’d have an idea about the opponent’s state of mind from the tapes, but Crash’s attitude in boxing matches seems to be changing, and we need to know whether or not he’d be throwing feints or trying to bite Binya” said Coach “I know it’s inconvenient, but we’d be grateful if you did this”

Zee rubbed the back of his neck while nodding, seeming less reluctant to do so.

“Alright, but Binya you better train hard or I’m going to kick your ass for this” said Zee firmly while raising his hand towards him  
“Hell yeah am I going to train hard!” exclaimed Binya while clasping his hand and grinning

Coach shut his eyes but a smile spread across his face while he leaned back in his chair. 

“Okay Binya, it’s time to get back to your training, we need to focus on increasing the strength of you arms and abs, come on” he said while heading downstairs, Kojo soon jogging after him

Kabuki sighed before clicking his neck.

“You know Zee, you’ve peaked my curiosity about Crash” said Kabuki while looking towards him  
“Hm? Well I’m curious as well to be honest” said Zee while glancing over to him   
“If you’re going to really pretend to be a reporter, mind if I tag along?” he asked while leaning forward

Zee thought for a moment before shrugging and grunting “iunno” 

“Won’t people notice you though?” Zee said after a moment

Kabuki glanced at his reflection in the T.V screen and scratched his cheek slowly.

“I’ll wear a disguise” said Kabuki while giving him a thumbs up and grin that drained any confidence Zee had in him  
“right” he muttered while pinching the bridge of his nose   
“I’ll meet you out of your apartment and we’ll go see what we can find about Mr. Crash” said Kabuki with a sly grin.  
“Well this will go swimmingly” sighed Zee while rolling his eyes

\---

It was yet an early weekend morning for Zee, awoken in his sweat covered futon by the sound of Binya leaving to do his road work. Sighing, he waved steam out of his face and stretched before sitting up, looking out a window to see Binya doing some shadow boxing sways, and then running out of view, as per usual. However, as he went along, a tall man in a trench coat and fedora walked past him. 

“…you’ve got to be kidding me” he muttered as he forced himself off of his futon and towards the door.

The moment he got there and gripped the door knob, he could hear footsteps outside. Yanking the door open, he blinked to see the man in the coat walk right past his door, glancing at him as if he was some sort of weirdo. Zee blinked as they went along before shutting the door and leaning against it, rubbing his face.

“Well that’s a relief” he sighed “If those was his “disguise” we would’ve been found out in an instant”

A second later he heard a knock on the door, and without a second thought he opened it to see Kabuki and Kojo wearing fake handlebar moustaches. 

Poor Zee’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

“What the f-, what kind of disguises are those are you kidding me and what’s Kojo doing here!?” he snapped

Kabuki shrugged casually while shutting one eye.

“To be honest I forgot about the whole thing until a couple of minutes ago, so I grabbed what I had available” said Kabuki while pulling out a third moustache “got one for you too if you want”  
“I just wanted one of the moustaches, Senpai dragged me along anyway” said Kojo while twirling the curl of the moustache with his finger

“We are going to get found out so fast I can’t even make a joke about it” muttered Zee while pressing his head against a wall. 

\---

It hadn’t taken long for Binya to go along his roadwork route and reach the gym, at least he thought so, it didn’t take him longer than usual anyway, but by the time he reached the gym he was surprised to see Coach watching Mashiba repeatedly pelt flicker jabs into a punching bag, but no Kabuki nor Kojo about the gym as per usual, instead he saw Coach sitting at a bench, looking over a clipboard of paper.

“Eeeey Coach sup?” asked Binya loudly as he strolled over, startling the focused Coach to such a degree his glasses flew off of his face  
“Binya I swear you’re going to give me a heart attack” muttered Coach as he picked his glasses up and wiped the lenses with his shirt, putting the clipboard on the bench

Curiously, Binya glanced at it, before blinking as he spotted the name “Mashiba Ryo” on it. 

“What’s up with the paper?” asked Binya while he pointed to it  
“Nothing” he said curtly, snatching the paper up from the bench 

Binya raised an eyebrow at this, about to say something when Coach cut him off by speaking first.

“We’re going to start your training to day, for some reason Kojo and Kabuki just left earlier this morning, probably faffing about” he shrugged a bit “So, are you ready to begin?”  
“As ready as I’ll ever be” said Binya with a nod and smile that yelled confidence and determination 

Coach had seen that smile many times in his career as a coach, but just as many times he had seen that smile turn into frowns of disappointment and loss. He bluntly shoved those memories out of his mind before grasping Binya by the shoulder.

“We’re going to need to tune up your reflexes and your movement speed for the fight” explained Coach “I already have a plan in mind for that, wait here” 

Binya blinked as he went off, wondering what he was talking about. His questions were answered when he returned hefting a large black and bulky vest, along with a couple of thick white bands. 

“Put these on” said Coach as he dropped them on the floor, the items giving off a rather audibly and heavy THUD   
“The hell are these?” asked Binya as he heaved up the vest, feeling it’s strong weight in his hands   
“That’s a weighted vest, you’re going to be wearing that as we train” said Coach while Binya pulled it on and then picked up the bands  
“For my wrists?” he asked while blinking  
“For your ankles” corrected Coach, smiling with amusement at Binya’s confused expression

“One of the featherweight champions back in the day, Sendo, often trained with ankle weights on to improve his step in and step out motions” he explained “You’ll be wearing those for most of the day, even when not training”  
Binya blinked at this, his mind playing out images of his heavy footsteps aggravating the easily annoyed Zee, or him being unable to move his feet while he’s working at the ramen shop. 

“And uh, how long will I be doing that for?” he asked  
“a month” replied Coach “and you’ll be doing more road work than usual aswell”   
“Oi” sighed Binya while slumping over at the idea “Alright”

Nodding, Coach turned and went to get mitts while Binya put on the ankle weights. They didn’t feel that heavy when he held them in his hands, at least compared to the vest he was currently wearing. However, as he put the weights on they already felt like they were weighing him down, and he hadn’t even moved yet. 

“Hm…” he thought as he tried to move forward, his legs feeling heavy under him but not heavy enough to stop his movements all together, he should be able to handle this right?

“Binya, get some gloves on and get in here” said Coach while slapping his mitts together within the ring  
Binya nodded before picking some gloves up from nearby and dragging himself over to the ring, heaving himself up and taking a fighting stance, time to find out. 

15 minutes later Binya was beginning to have his doubts. As he tried to dance around the ring, firing jabs and straights into coach’s mitts with as much accuracy as he could, he could already feel his body straining underneath his weights, his upper body tensed up and his legs forcing themselves not to be dragged along as he went. 

As he fired a swift jab at Coach’s left mitt, Coach lunged straight into Binya while swiping at his cheek with a right hook, forcing Binya to try and duck down before he shoved himself into a corner, putting up a cross arm block as Coach fired multiple jabs at him. The jabs were stopped by his solid guard, but they were simply the set up, Coach lunging straight in and firing a right hook right at Binya’s liver, stopping short of hitting his vest. 

“Not bad for someone wearing 30 kilos” said Coach as he stood up straight and whipped sweat off his forehead  
Binya grinned at the compliment, though he was panting quiet a bit. At least he could manage 5 rounds with the gear on, he didn’t have to worry about stamina at least. While Coach went to put the mitts back in their place, Binya looked down at his vest and ankle weights. One problem was that he weighed 30 kilos more, and was significantly slower because of it (as one would expect). 

He knew the weights would make him more muscular at least, but he needed to become faster too if he planned on training more effectively. 

“So what’re you thinking of?” asked Coach as he watched him from the side of the ring  
“Need to be faster I think” said Binya while rubbing his chin  
“I half figured you’d say that, don’t worry just trust me with this and you’ll feel the results when you eventually take those off” he said while pointing at Binya’s ankles

Binya watched him for a moment before snorting and slowly smirking 

“You’re almost sounding emotional coach” said Binya with a grin, immediately getting smacked in the face with a mitt  
“Don’t go soft on me boyo, get out of the ring and get a skipping rope” he ordered while folding his arms 

Binya sighed and obeyed, though he still hid his smirk behind his hand.


	10. A desperate reason to fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Binya's training continues and the rest of the boxers at his gym prepare for their matches. Meanwhile, Crash prepares as well, as well as gaining a new reason to win

By the time Binya was done with the day’s training, he half felt like he was going to collapse on the floor and shrivel up before ceremonially dying in a sad display. Lying on the floor panting in his own puddle of sweat, he glanced around as people began to head home from training, some sharing jokes with each other, others not looking forward to bearing the cold as they head home. By the time a majority had left the only one still around was Mashiba, who was slowly unwrapping bandages from his fists as he stared out a window at the cascading snow. 

“Get off the floor you’re making a mess” ordered Coach, nudging him with his foot as he walked past “take off that vest, have a shower and then head home. We’ll be doing this again tomorrow so be ready”

Binya blinked and glanced at Coach before groaning and slowly sitting up, reaching behind him to undo the straps on his weighted vest before pulling it off of him and dropping it on a bench, the seat shaking under the vest’s weight. 

“Oh god this feels so much better!” exclaimed Binya, relieved to have the literal weight off of his shoulders, but he was promptly reminded of his ankle weights when he tried to hop on the balls of his feet, only for his knees to buckle right under him.

As Binya struggled up so he could sit on the bench and rest his weary legs, Mashiba walked past him with his hands in his pockets, giving Binya a side long glance as he headed towards the showers. Binya watched him go, tilting his head slightly before sighing and drooping his head a bit, feeling the fatigue of the day’s training wash over him again. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but he was snapped back to attention by the door being kicked right open.

“Holy shit we stumbled upon something interesting!” exclaimed Kabuki loudly as he walked in, Kojo and Zee following along behind him.

Binya looked towards them before a confused look spread across their face, the trio had multiple claw marks along their faces and bodies, as if they had been chased by a bunch of dogs. 

“What the hell happened to you three?” asked Coach as he gave them a look over  
“Things” sighed Kojo with a shake of his head and a wave of his hand “We ended up finding out something important about Crash”   
“What’d you find?” asked Coach as he walked over to them

“Look at this” replied Zee with a nod, handing him a small note book

Coach flipped through it, frowning as he did. 

“hm” he said as he read it over while exhaling through his nose “…this explains some things” 

Binya blinked at this and was about to walk over when Coach shooed him off, saying “You go take a shower, read this on the way home” 

Sighing in slight annoyance, Binya obediently went off to have a shower, dragging his feet along as he went.

\---

By the time Binya had finished showering and changed into clothes that haven’t been lathered in sweat, Coach was heading up to his office, most likely to lock its door, and Kabuki and Kojo were both gone. Zee however was patiently waiting at the exit, the note book in his hand.

“What’s up with the weights?” asked Zee, pointing to the weights wrapped around Binya’s ankles  
“Hell in the form of weights” sighed Binya as he picked his track suit jacket up from the coat rack and slipped it on, before gesturing to the note book “lemme take a look”

He nodded and handed Binya the notebook before heading downstairs, Binya following behind as he began to flip through it and read, his eyebrow arching slightly as he read the scribbled notes as he walked along after Zee.

\---

Crash, or Hideyoshi as he was called out of the ring, is an orphan, and used to be an incredibly violent one at that. Due to his violent tendencies, nobody wanted to adopt him, and he was often shunned by the other children and even the care takers at the orphanage. Life went on like this for 16 years, supposedly, until he ran away from the orphanage for about a month.

Its unclear what he went through when he was gone, but when he was found, he was found along the side of a dog, who refused to let anyone near until she was captured and given to a dog’s adoption centre while Crash himself was returned to the orphanage. However, as he was there, his violent moods were so bad that the care takers planned to send Crash to rehab. They nearly succeeded but by then Crash had run away from the orphanage once again.

Rather than disappearing for a month, this time he was gone for a week, only to turn up at the adoption centre, demanding to see the dog who had protected him. Ms. Kina, the woman who owned the centre, not only let him see the dog, she let him adopt the dog, and in turn ended up giving him lodgings near the centre as long as he agreed to work there (After he had explained his situation to her). 

He seemed to mellow down somewhat at this, calming down for a few months and worked in the civic centre. However, when he was 18, he got into a street fight, in public no less, and he would’ve been sent to jail had he not been bailed out by Ms. Kina. Upset for forcing Ms. Kina to use money on him in such a way, he decided to turn his aggression away from street fights and into boxing.

While he was incredibly aggressive at times, hence the fouls, he enjoyed boxing not for winning but as a way to vent his aggression. This all changed when Ms. Kina was diagnosed with a chronic illness (they weren’t able to find out what), but it needed a certain amount of money to pay for the treatments, money Ms. Kina didn’t have. But Crash could earn it (or so Kojo had speculated) and forced himself to not foul and aim to win matches to gain money for her surgery.

After that the notebook was blank. 

\---

By the time Binya had finished reading it the duo were back at the apartment, with Zee rooting around his pockets for his keys.

“mmmmn” said Binya with a deep frown, snapping the book shut as he narrowed his eyes  
“My thoughts exactly” sighed Zee as he put his key in the door and unlocked it, easing it open so he could walk in out of the freezing cold. 

Binya walked along inside behind him while frowning and shaking his head, walking inside while putting his hands in his pockets.   
“Suddenly everything makes sense. But this sucks man.” He said before exhaling through his nose, glancing over to Zee while pushing the door shut with his foot   
“mmph, to be honest I half expected him to just be putting up the violent side as a front” explained Zee as he pulled his jacket off and then pulled his hair band from his hair to let it fall out of it’s pony tail “but fighting someone who’s actually that violent, but forced himself to reform, is hard as high hell”

Binya shrugged a little bit as he grabbed an apple from the kitchen and bit into it, leaning against a wall while he stared at the floor silently. Zee watched him with a frown, patting him on the shoulder and giving him a questioning thumbs up. Binya blinked over to it before giving him a “so so” look. 

“I know that he won’t try to use fouls, disqualification means no fight money” said Binya before shutting one eye “But, even if it’s the world of boxing…”

Zee raised an eyebrow before frowning and nodding.

“Your conscience being a jerk huh?” he asked before exhaling “That’s the world of boxing, though in this country you know that a lot more than I do Binya”  
Binya shrugged slowly while shaking his head and clenching his right fist.

“If I don’t win the next match” said Binya as he opened his eyes and looked at his fist “I’ll be right back where I was before I beat Kenji. I’d be weak, forgotten. Tossed aside as a c-lister and nobody would respect me”

Zee frowned as he watched him, remembering how the shopkeeper under the gym mocked Binya when Zee had asked him about it. 

“I’m not going to care what happens afterwards. I need to win and get myself out of this win lose curse.” He said firmly while firing a right straight forward, the air whisking around his fist.  
“If you keep going the way you’re going Binya, you will win” said Zee with a nod while grasping Binya’s shoulder   
“Well said, man. You look like you’ve been through hell today so you go get some rest” said Zee before pointing to his ankle weights “and don’t leave those lying about or you’ll end up hurting someone”

Binya looked at his weights before snickering and nodding a bit.

“Yeah I’m going to get some sleep, gnight Zee” he said before walking off into his room. 

Zee watched him go before exhaling through his nose and putting his hands on his hips.

“You want people to respect you huh?” Zee sighed as he clicked the kitchen lights off and went into his own room “You already have my respect, I can promise you that at least”

\---

Crash sighed while he pulled the boxing tape onto his fists, exhaling slowly from his nose with his eyes shut, sitting down on a bench as he listened to the crisp motions of punches in the ring, boxers bouncing above skipping ropes or punching boxing bags. Without even needing to open his eyes he could visualize the boxers across the large gym, boxing and moving and training. It was a sound he had gotten used to for the years he’s been a boxer, and it was one he had grown to love.

“Oi Hideyoshi!” yelled a female voice

Crash blinked and opened one eye to see an older woman in her 40s slapping her boxing mitts together.

“We’re going to revise what we’ve been practicing these months, the weigh in is in two days from now so now’s the time for practice more than ever” she said

Crash nodded before rising up to his feet and slipping his gloves on, slapping the fists together and heading into the ring as others left it. As Crash went along into the ring, a young man with green tinged slicked back black hair walked out of the showers in a black and red tracksuit, his towel wrapped around his neck. 

“Crash is going at the mitts already?” he thought as he put his hands in his pockets and looked to the ring “Hmn”

As he walked over to watch, Crash was sending powerful and fast combinations into his trainers mitts, the punches so sharp they cut through the air around them.

“Alright, KO combination!” She ordered

WHAM

A massive uppercut slammed into the mitt at her stomach, the force making her skid back a tiny bit, but she stayed her ground and fired a jab at his left eye. Leaning his head back, he moved right out of its range before lunging in as she pulled the mitt back and swung an uppercut at her body again, this one even more powerful than the last. The trainer’s eyes narrowed somewhat as she positioned her mitts up high as if she was guarding, and obediently he rushed in and began to land one two combos at her mitts, his jabs were clean, but the observer watched closely, how he twisted his hips, turned his feet to the side and blasted out with an even stronger straight punch that made her guard shake strongly. 

Crash pulled his left fist back and twisted his arm, about to throw a hook, but it seemed incredibly wide, almost like a hay maker. If he planned on using it on a counter puncher, he’d be beaten almost immediately. The woman’s eyes narrowed and she suddenly threw in a hook of her own, the attack whistling right at his jaw. A strong counter, one that would’ve made him lose all his momentum and maybe even his bearings. If it had hit.

Crash suddenly leaned right in, his wrist twisting midswing and blasting right up into her waiting mitt in an uppercut, the exact same spot in the body. The trainer’s eyes widened and she grunted as she backed up. 

“Good, good, again” she said as she prepared her mitts once again. 

“So Hebi, what do you think of your Senpai?” asked a deeper voice as a hand clasped his shoulder

Hebi looked back and up at his father before exhaling through his nose and looking back at Crash.

“It’s impressive, but incomplete” said Hebi while shaking his head slowly “If I fought him, while he’d be trouble I’d beat him”

His father rubbed his jaw slowly while nodding as Crash and the woman continued their mock fight in the ring.

“I’ve known Hideyoshi for a while, you’re right when you say his style is incomplete, but he took that part out of his style on purpose. What’s left is a clean boxer puncher who adept with feints and has sharp enough punches to act as weapons.” He said while tilting his head “While what you see is an incomplete boxer, what I see is an armoury”  
“You’re so over dramatic” snickered Hebi in response, getting a light chop to the head in response from his father.  
“Either way, we’ll have to see if his training has paid off in a few days, will you be watching the match, or just the world match itself?” he asked

“Mashiba is my goal, so ofcourse I’ll watch the world match” said Hebi as he eyed Crash knocking the woman off of her feet with a straight to the mitt over her forehead “But, I may as well watch this match as well” 

His father nodded while Crash rubbed his fists, looking down at his trainer as she pulled her mitts off and got to her feet while massaging the palms of her hands. 

“Okay Crash, let’s go through that again” she said

Crash was about to get back into his stance when he heard familiar barking from outside. His focused expression changed to that of confusion before he looked at the window to see Sasha scratching at the window. 

“Sasha?” he said as he climbed out of the ring and opening the window, looking down at the frantic dog, barking loudly at him before running off down the street. Without even saying he had to go, Crash vaulted out the window and sprinted after Sasha, frowning deeply as he went. 

“What’s Sasha doing all the way out here, she should be at the centre” he thought as he continued to run, swiftly catching up to the sprinting german shepherd “What could’ve happened…was it…no, Mrs. Kina!”

After a few minutes, Crash shoulder barged through the door of the centre, Sasha running in and howling while pointing to Mrs. Kina lying on the floor, her cane sprawled next to her as she lay face flat on the floor in a severely awkward position. Crash stared, wide eyed, Sasha’s howls fading off along with all background noise, all he could hear was his heart beating so hard he could feel it in his throat. 

“MRS KINA!”

\---

It hadn’t taken long for an ambulance to arrive, thankfully his trainer had decided to run after him when he booked it out of the gym. While he was allowed into the ambulance with the knocked out Mrs. Kina, when they got to the hospital he was forced to wait outside in a bland hallway, staring at a wall while doctors did…something, to Mrs. Kina somewhere else in the hospital. 

As he waited, held clenched his fists tightly, holding Sasha close to his chest and squeezing his eyes shut. As he hugged his dog close, Sasha whined and licked his cheek slowly, trying to comfort him, Crash was glad she did, if she wasn’t there he had no idea what he’d do. 

“Um…Hideyoshi?” asked a male voice from his right.

Crash blinked and he snapped to his feet, gripping Sasha with one hand and grasping the Doctor by his tie with his other.

“How is she!?” he exclaimed loudly, enough to make the doctor flinch before composing himself  
“She’s in a stable condition, she had to go through surgery and she’ll be fine for now” he sighed while shaking his head “the fall shatter her hip however, she won’t be moving for a long time”   
Crash stared before narrowing his eyes and letting him go.  
“What about…her sickness?” he asked “will she still need medication?”  
“It’s safe to assume she will” the doctor said while putting his hands in his coat pockets “though, from her collapse, i believe she’s going to need more of the medicine, if she wasn’t she wouldn’t be in this condition”

Crash could feel his heart sink and his grip on the doctor’s tie tightened considerably before he lifted him a few centimeters off the floor.  
“How much.” He said to him “How much more do I need to buy?”  
“enough for a month at least” said the doctor, staying calm but gripping Crash’s hand so he could breathe easily   
“…that’ll cost…” he muttered as he dropped the doctor

It would cost, too much, way too much. Maybe he could use some of the donations from the centre but Mrs. Kina would never let him use all of it, he couldn’t bring himself to either. But what could he do, he didn’t want to disappoint her, but she fainted again because of her damn illness, she even broke her hip. If she fell again…

That’s when it hit him, the match, the money. 

“People will be there because of the title match” he said as he dropped the doctor and stalked off “the money I win should be enough, it HAS to be enough. I need to save her, no matter what it takes”

He clenched his fist tightly and stared at it. No matter what it took, he was going kill this rising star, and saved the one person who cared about him.


	11. A dangerous announcement and the start of the match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Binya finally meets Crash face to face, he makes a harsh greeting both at the weigh in and in the ring

Binya bounced from his heels to his toes as he waited impatiently on the street. It was the day of the weigh in for both the champion and the opening acts, to say he was excited was an understatement, he had worked hard to break the curse of the win-lose pattern and tomorrow he’d see the results. The sooner he was done with the weigh in the sooner the say was over, and the sooner the day was over the sooner he got to his match. 

Unfortunately for him, someone was late, as usual. 

“KABUKI GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!” he yelled loudly up at an open window in the gym  
“don’t be so loud” sighed Coach while cleaning the lens of his glasses on his shirt “he’s probably taking a piss”  
“One hell of a piss, took so long Mashiba already left” sighed Binya while throwing jabs at the air, the flaps of his tracksuit top flying back from the wind  
“You can’t hurry up that kind of thing or it causes a mess you dumbass” said Kabuki as he eased the front door open with his foot, his hair down for once and going past his face

“You almost look like a ghost with your hair down like that” commented Coach as he began to walk  
“That’s the point, helps with the intimidation factor, pressuring opponents before the match even starts, they’ll think I’m a shinigami” he stated proudly with a grin  
“you look more like that toilet ghost Hanako” said Binya in response while rolling his eyes  
“Say that again and I’ll kill you before you even have your match” snapped Kabuki   
“Then I’ll haunt your ass and show you what a real ghost is like” growled Binya while getting ready to brawl him

“enough you two, no fighting until at least after the match, I’d rather you not hurt yourselves or all your work to this point will go to waist” ordered Coach to them both  
“I don’t even think Kabuki did any work” commented Binya with a grin, tilting his head back to avoid a large straight  
“You wanna say that again you asshole!?” snapped Kabuki

Coach sighed and slowly shook his head, he was going to have to deal with these two the entire walk. 

It took them about an hour and a half to reach the stadium, standing down at it’s base and staring up at it’s peak made Binya feel rather small. To think he was going to fight here tomorrow, it almost scared him. Kabuki had his hands on his hips and was exhaling while looking up as well.

“When I take the world champion belt, I want to take it here” said Kabuki suddenly  
“focus on becoming the champion of japan first” replied Coach as he led them both through a door and into a hallway, walking towards the weighing room.   
“Hmn, I can hear chattering already, Mashiba must’ve met his challenger already” noted Binya as they walked towards the door  
“mhm” said Kabuki, reaching the door to the weighing room and opening the door, just in time to be shoved past by Mashiba, the man silently storming down the hall

Coach raised an eyebrow at that, noticing Mashiba’s hands were tightly clenched into fists as he went. Inside Binya saw a glimpse of a brown haired man in a Hawaiian shirt and khakis strolling out a door opposite. As the man left reporters and photographers were chatting amongst each other in an excited manner. Whatever had happened it must’ve been impactful. 

“Sheesh, the atmosphere here is tense, something must’ve happened before we came” said Kabuki as he shrugged off his sleeveless jacket and handed it to Coach “Ah well, I’ll read about it in the papers”  
“You idiot you’re the reason why we missed it” snapped Binya, only to get a nonchalant wave in response. 

Both of their weigh ins went without a hitch, Kabuki’s weight staying comfortably in the middle of the welter weight class while Binya’s hit the upper limit of the lightweight class. 

“Okay, good work you two, head home and make sure to get plenty of rest for tomorrow” instructed the coach as he led them both to the door.

As Binya was about to grip the handle the door was yanked open from infront of him, and the next thing he knew he was face to face with Crash. Some of the photographers began to take pictures as the two stared at each other, Crash’s eyes digging straight into Binya’s but Binya responded in turn. 

When Zee had described to him what Crash looked like, he knew that the pressure must’ve been intimidating. But looking up at the black boxer before him, he knew had underestimated him. While the pressure from Kenji came from below, Crash’s pressure crushed down on him like the torrents of a water fall. Despite this, he continued to stare until Coach pulled on his sleeve.

“Binya, we’re going” he said  
Without taking his eyes off of Crash Binya stepped aside so that Crash could go and weigh himself. Glad to no longer have those piercing eyes staring into his, Binya was about to leave before Crash suddenly spoke.

“I’m going to win this fight “rising star”. No matter what it takes” he said bluntly.

Binya blinked before exhaling through his nose and shutting his eyes.

“If that’s what I think it means, Hideyoshi, then I won’t consider this a boxing match, it’ll be a boxer against a wild animal someone let out of the zoo” he snapped  
“This wild animal is going to tear you apart and leave you in the dirt” replied Crash  
“Leave me in the dirt?” asked Binya before turning and pointing right at him “In case you haven’t heard, I’m the rising star, and if anyone’s going to be left in the dirt it’s you as I move above you. And I ain’t going to look back.”

With that, Binya walked off, not listening to any word he had left to say.

\---

From what Zee could see, the headline summed up the situation rather well. 

“Tension”

Mashiba’s challenger, Gregory Wagner, not only had declared he’d KO him in the fourth round, he also went on to bad mouth Mashiba’s fighting style, his record, even his sister. It was a surprise Mashiba hadn’t attacked him there and then. 

And even Mashiba’s kohai, Binya joined in, he and Crash trading gutsy one liners before leaving. Kabuki tried to join in, but his opponent didn’t even grace him with a reply. 

Sighing, Zee put the magazine down and folded his arms slowly, shutting one eye as he did, listening to people walk out of the school now that classes were done for the day. 

“The match is today” he thought as he put the boxing magazine down and looked out a window, reaching into his pocket to tap the ticket Binya had left for him this morning

The first match started in an hour or so, he needed to make sure he got there to see Binya before his match. Nodding to himself he got his briefcase and grasped the handle tightly as he began to jog down the hall, moving past students as he headed for the door.

“You seem to be in a hurry hentai sensei, where are you off to now?” asked someone from beside him.

Blinking Zee looked over to see Hebi jogging alongside him, easily keeping pace while looking him over with his green eyes.

“Hm, your stamina’s improve from what I saw in the park last time, may be the diet Koji’s been saying you’re on” said Hebi with a grin  
“Koji” he sighed while shaking his head “It’s just things, anyway, what’re you hurrying for?”  
“Going to see a world title match today” said Hebi with a grin, showing him a ticket to Mashiba’s fight  
“really now?” he said while he slowed, the two reaching the entrance “I’m actually heading to the stadium now”  
“You’re a fan of boxing!?” exclaimed Hebi in suprise, making a few other students glance at them both   
“Yeah, well, sort of, you can say I am” he sighed as they walked out side, his hands in his jacket pockets

“Hey, Hebi” said a deep voice from down the street, a rather familiar one at that   
Glancing over, Zee saw Hebi’s father waving him over to a black sedan that waited with an open door.

“Well I gotta go, maybe I’ll see you at the stadium, see you hentai sensei” said Hebi with a nod before walking towards his dad.  
Zee tilted his head to the side as he saw this, lingering on the image for a moment before remembering he didn’t have much time before the event started, and Binya’s opening match. 

Preparing himself for his run, he tied his hair into a pony tail before sprinting off and away from the school. 

\---

“So mr. opening act, you ready to get your ass kicked?” asked Kabuki with a grin to Binya  
“Excuse me!? Want me to kick your ass before your match!?” snapped Binya as he glared up at the smug Kabuki.

“Enough don’t fight each other before your matches!” exclaimed Coach, pushing Binya and Kabuki away from each other, Kojo helping to pull Kabuki away. 

Binya frowned and walked over to the other corner, continuing with his shadow boxing, while Kabuki went on to pull off his black sweater and shirt. Kojo sighed and sat down on a table while looking between Kabuki and Binya. While Kabuki seemed relaxed as he got dressed and ready, Binya seemed to be building up a slight sweat from his shadow boxing along.

Was he that nervous? It must be, the curse of the win lose recurrence has been plaguing Binya ever since he was a pro, if he lost now, he knows what it could do to his morale. Coach glanced at Kojo, receiving a slight nod as the two understood what he was going through. Binya frowned more as he faced the corner, right now, to him at least, the air was so thick with tension he could practically feel it on his fists as he punched. 

He needed to calm down and focus, remember the plan, remember what you’ve built towards…but what if that doesn’t work? What if he loses again, what if-

His thoughts were interrupted by panting right outside the door before it swung open. Blinking he turned to see Zee standing up and wiping sweat off his forehead, still wearing his suit from school. 

“Zee man? What’re you doing down here?” asked Binya as he walked over  
“Here to, check on, you of course” replied Zee between breaths before he exhaled through his nose and raised his fist towards Binya “I’ll be watching, good luck”

He blinked as he looked to the fist before raising his own bandaged fist and tapping it against Zee’s. He then looked to Zee who smiled right back at him. 

“Don’t make me have to scream at the top of my lungs again like I did last time” he chuckled  
Binya blinked for a moment before nodding, the tension in the air ebbing away as he grew a confident smile.   
“Don’t worry bro I won’t, Crash won’t even know what hit him” he said firmly   
“Good, I should go and get my seat before someone steals it” chuckled Zee before giving him a thumbs up and walking off 

Binya watched him go before smiling more and turning to face coach.  
“I knew you were gay” said Kabuki suddenly with a smirk  
“I swear Kabuki I’m going to-“ 

\---

Crash watched as his coach wrapped the bandages around the gloves, sticking them firmly over his clenched fists. Even though she had told him to relax, Crash’s fists were as tense as ever…no…he had never felt this tense before a fight. 

“Thinking about Ms. Kina huh?” she asked as she held his fists  
Crash nodded slowly, still looking down to his fists  
“I know you think you need to do what ever it takes to win, but if you get disqualified again, you may be suspended, or even lose your license” she warned him “You can do what you feel you need to do to beat him, but if you lose your license, it’ll be a bigger blow than if you just lose, understand?” 

He nodded again before shutting his eyes.   
“What does that Yimikazi have riding on this match, his pride, his reputation?” he thought as he clenched his fists even more tightly “I have a life, an important one. I’m not going to let you stop me, even if I have to kill you.”

When he opened his eyes, his coach saw that they were focused in, and while it looked like he was glaring at her, she knew full well he was imagining his opponent. She wasn’t sure if he’d even listen to her, but she just had to hope that he wouldn’t regress back into the fouling monster she had to tame in the past. 

“Uh, excuse me, the match is about to start” said a stadium attendant as he leaned in through the door. 

Crash slowly shut his eyes and clenched his fists while taking a deep breath, exhaling out while he walked towards the door.  
“Let’s go coach” he said, his voice much deeper and gruffer than usual  
She frowned somewhat but followed behind him, her assistants getting what they needed before the headed out to the ring.

\---

Zee was busy moving towards his seat as Crash walked into the ring, his eyes shut and his fists clenched as he moved purposefully and slowly towards the ring. Even from his seat Zee could feel the pressure billowing off of Crash. Sighing, he sat down at his seat, planning on focusing on the match. Instead he found himself sitting on something rather uncomfortable and sharp. Snapping up with a yelp he found himself sitting down on a rather sharp looking pen, held there by a mischievous hand. 

“Well hello hello Hentai Sensei” snickered Koji with a grin, taking her pen out from under him.  
“Koji don’t do that… anyway, you’re here too?” he asked as he sat down, looking at her note pad an pen “what’s that for?”  
“Makin notes on the match” she said as she twirled her pen in her hand “just English practice”  
“Really?” he asked, rather impressed “glad to see you’re practicing”  
As he said this someone plopped down on the seat next to him and tapped his arm to get his attention.

Looking over Zee was surprised to see Kojo tilting his head at him.  
“What an odd coincidence don’t you think?” he asked with a chuckle “my seat is next to yours”  
“I doubt it was a coincidence, probably Binya’s doing” said Zee as he looked down to the ring “and speak of the devil”

Down below Binya was pretty much the opposite of Crash, bouncing on the balls of his feet and firing animated lefts as he headed for the ring, smiling somewhat as he did. 

“Well he certainly looks excited” said Koji while blinking   
“He should be, he’s been training hard these past few months” replied Kojo as he leaned forward  
“Oh you’re his gym mate? Mind providing a little commentary?” asked Koji

He blinked towards her before smiling and scratching behind his ear.  
“I’m not really a counter puncher so I’ll miss a few things, but I’ll try my best” he said with a nod

With that, the trio focused on Binya as he climbed into the ring, exchanging a few words with the coach, Crash meanwhile was leaning against the corner post, his eyes still shut as he clenched his fists. It took a little while for the match to get rolling, with the referee giving them their instructions, but eventually, it got to a point where the only thing holding them back was the bell. 

Binya gripped the ropes behind him while facing Crash, but Crash meanwhile had his eyes shut and seemed almost relaxed, yet, the pressure coming from him was huge. Binya frowned deeply, trying to ignore it and focus on Crash instead.

“remember the plan” he muttered to himself over and over as he tensed up his feet, getting ready to use them

After what felt like an eternity, the gong finally rang and Binya leaped forward, planning on intercepting Crash. Crash however didn’t move at all, but he slowly opened his eyes. As Binya’s gaze met Crash’s he stopped instantly in his tracks, the pressure near crushing down on him. 

Crash’s eyes flashed red and suddenly he rushed into Binya, pulling his left fist back. Blinking, Binya strengthened his guard, anticipating a powerful left to the head.

“Oh shit…” muttered Zee as he leaned forward “that was a feint!”

WHAM

A massive right straight smashed into Binya’s head, sending steam billowing from across his head. 

“No way…a punch like that, right to the temple…it could’ve blown his head clean off” muttered Koji  
“That’s why he didn’t let it hit” said Kojo, pointing down below at the ring

As the steam faded it’d show that Binya had moved his head out of the way, the punch having scraped his cheek and left a burn across it.

“So that’s what all the tense motion was for, he was storing strength” thought Binya as he hopped away and raised his hands up in a stance “Had I not seen that coming I would’ve been knocked right out. Hm.” 

Crash snarled, his right didn’t work, he wasn’t going to finish it in the early rounds like he had hoped. But you know what? That’s fine.

“I’m going to win no matter what it takes” he snarled before lunging in towards Binya, his fists clenched once again

Binya watched him before he rushed in to meet him, the two preparing to battle it out in the ring, one to save the life of the first to ever care about him, the other to finally put the win loss, curse to res


	12. Mad dog vs Spry Counter Puncher

Outside the halls snow rained down from the dark sky, upon the street there was barely a sound as people were dragging themselves home from a hard day’s work. The scene could be described as serene, maybe even peaceful, but this was shattered by loud cheering from within a large sports hall as Binya and Crash fought within.

Crash’s powerful right straight nearly blew Binya’s head off, instead leaving a red scar on his cheek, a reminder to take him seriously. Binya kept this in mind as he raised his forearm to block a right hook to the body, instantly backing up to avoid a following right uppercut that would’ve pierced into his stomach. Pulling his fists back, Crash rushed in towards him, keeping his head low as he did. Crash was certainly fast, compared to Kenji as a plain infighter Crash was certainly superior in step in speed, it’d explain how he managed to corner so many boxers in the past, but Binya knew how to deal with those types now. 

Pressing his toe into the floor, Binya suddenly bounced right back into Crash, making him blink in surprise and cock his left fist back to swing at him, only for Binya to bounce right to the side. He wasn’t sure if Crash was planning a feint or an actual punch, but neither would matter if he moved to the side and out of his sight. 

“He’s certainly a lot more lively than he was against Kenji” noted Zee “It’s like he’s lighter on his feet”  
“You live with him, I’m sure you noticed the weights he had on at the time” replied Kojo, “the weights were to train his body, allow him to move much more freely, now more than ever”   
“And that in turn helps him with his defensive plan” muttered Zee, Koji listening to their commentary and scribbling it down diligently

As Crash tried to face Binya, he’d be greeted with a sharp jab invading his peripheral vision and smacking him clean across the eye, making his head snap back in shock more than pain. Growling Crash turned to face him and tried to fire a straight at him, but Binya leaped backwards to dodge it, staying a distance away from him while bouncing on his feet. 

“I bet you thought he’d try and get into a slug fest like he did with Kenji” thought Coach as he looked to the female trainer on the other side of the ring “we learnt our lesson then, he won’t slug it out until he has the advantage. Until then he’s going to chip away at his spirit and stamina”

Crash snarled as another jab hit home the moment Crash tried to step in, followed by another, and another, multiple jabs hitting his head as he moved in. 

“He never acted like such a pure outboxer” thought Crash as he growled and centred himself in the ring, Binya bouncing on the balls of his feet in front of him “I need to corner the fucker before I can hit him…calm, calm, watch patiently for now” 

He exhaled through his nose before he focused upon Binya, taking a lower stance as he watched him. Binya blinked somewhat, frowning deeply as Crash did this. He figured that Crash would be a wild dog that he could move around easily from what he had said yesterday…but if he focused and cornered him…

He frowned, his bouncing becoming slightly slower as a result. 

“His rhythm is slowing down” said Koji while pointing with her pen  
“What- now way, is he getting tired already!?” exclaimed Zee while he looked to Kojo, who was frowning while rubbing his mouth with his finger  
“No, it’s the pressure” he explained while shaking his head “If Crash is good at anything other than feints, it’s giving off pressure, you met him before, you know he can do it”  
“Mmph…that and the pressure of possibly losing again” muttered Zee while clenching his fists   
“The only way to resist pressure like that is through the mental resistance you gain from training, but even then you can’t complete overcome it” muttered Kojo as he shook his head

Crash observed Binya’s rhythm, before taking a step forward while going even lower and cocking his foot, as if he was going to step in, Binya blinked and moved to the left, raising his left arm as he aimed to fire jabs at the incoming Crash…only he didn’t come from that direction. Blinking Binya looked around to see Crash rushing him from his left, lowering his right hand as he moved in and lowered himself, almost as if he was aiming for an uppercut. 

“Whether or not that’s a feint I can’t let it hit me!” thought Binya as he bounced backwards to the side, narrowly dodging an uppercut that slashed up through the air. 

Yes! He did it! He- he found his back pedal stopped as he stepped right into the corner post. 

“In the first round he already managed to corner him!?” exclaimed Coach while slamming his fist on the canvas  
“see Hideyoshi? This is why I told you to keep calm. Observe and act, trap him in the corner and deal damage from there” said his coach with a proud smile on her lips 

Binya was about to move out, but Crash rushed in and stood right in front of him, raising his hands up to block both sides of his exit. Binya frowned, crouching down and seeming to shrink down as he raised his guard up to cover his head, his eyes glancing between the fists held up either side, before looking up at Crash who practically towered over him. 

“…When did he get so big?” thought Binya as he stared up at Crash, feeling completely dwarfed by his shadow 

When Zee told Binya he had walked into Crash, he had said that he was certainly about a few inches taller than him and had a heavier build, but now, it almost seemed like he was fighting someone in the middleweight class. Whether or not that was true, he knew he needed to get out of that position. 

“Should I use ‘that’?” he thought while glancing to Coach, Coach however shook his head and raised his hands up as if to guard.

Nodding, Binya planted his feet firmly and leaned back into the corner post, waiting for him to make his move. Crash stared at him before suddenly backing right up and tightening his right fist suddenly punching straight at Binya’s guard. 

“A right straight? These are deadly, I need to-“ he began to think while changing his block into a cross armed block.

SLAM

Binya felt a blow clean to the side of his head that sent him stumbling to the side into the ropes, blinking in surprise as he looked to Crash, Crash returning to pulling his fist back once again. Thinking he’d somehow hit the side of his head again, he went to try and block the sides of his head, as a straight flew towards him…only to somehow fly up and slam into his chin through his guard, knocking him back before he leaned forward again, his eyes widening as he took a stance.

“Oh this is bad for him” muttered Koji as she pointed to Binya with her pen, the clean hits piling in on him despite his guard  
“It looks like he’s throwing a straight, but each time he changes trajectory to hit with an uppercut or hook” growled Zee while gripping his hands into fists “How come he never did that before!?”  
“Probably never needed too” said Kojo while frowning “but this is even worse than you both think. Crash is hitting home with his right each time, but Binya’s not even bruised. He’s pulling his punches.”  
“What!? Does he think he can beat him with those tiny love taps!?” snapped Zee with a frown  
“No…he’s making it very clear where he can hit Binya” muttered Kojo “he’s mounting on even more pressure…I don’t even want to know what Senpai’s feeling right now”

At the ring, Crash was about to pull his fist back, but the gong rang and the referee slipped in between them. 

“Back to your corners!” he ordered while pointing 

Crash looked to the referee before glaring down at Binya, who was still crouched down and keeping his guard up over his face. Crash stared at him for a few seconds before walking back to his corner, with Binya walking along to his, trailing sweat behind him.

As he sat down on his stool, Coach frowned and looked Binya over. It was already round one, but Binya’s skin was completely covered in sweat…was it fatigue? Taking a towel, he whipped Binya off and confirmed his theory, he wasn’t sweating because he was tired…the pressure had gotten to him. 

“Coach…I think we’re going to need to, edit, the plan a little bit” chuckled Binya, trying to give Coach a smile  
Coach looked to him before grasping his towel tightly, doing his best to keep a calm face. 

“I’m going to set a goal for you this round” said Coach while grasping Binya’s fist “I want you to prove to yourself that Crash is just a human, like you”   
Binya stared up at him, but nodded slowly.  
“Still staying defensive?” he asked him 

Coach nodded before patting him on the shoulder. 

“Stay calm and focus on your objective for this match” he instructed “you got it?”

Binya looked up to him, but smiled a bit more and nodded.

“I got it”

“SECONDS, OUT!”

Crash bit down onto his mouth guard and stood up while cracking his knuckles.

“I mounted the pressure on last round, if it’s affected his mentality I should have no reason to worry about a surprise counter” he thought as he took his stance and glared at Binya

Binya meanwhile raised his stance, adjusting the mouth guard into his mouth as he did. The crowd went quiet as the two fighters began to circle each other slowly, Binya bouncing on his feet while Crash tried to see whether or not his pressure had affected Binya at all. 

“I can’t tell just by looking at him. The rhythm of his bounces are getting faster, he could be planning to kick it up a notch…or he’s just acting. Either way, I won’t know, until I act.” He thought 

With that his glare increased in intensity and he took a step forward, but the moment he did Binya bounced right to the left and out of sight, moving much faster than he had last round. He really did kick it up a notch! Crash quickly turned to face him, but as he did he got a left straight to face as Binya zipped by his vision. Somewhat dazed from the speed of the blow, he raised his right guard over his head, thinking that’s where Binya was aiming to hit. Instead Binya suddenly slipped into his peripheral vision from the left and more left jabs slammed in home, repeatedly cutting into his face and forcing him to guard. 

“Constantly moving around me like this as if he’s not afraid…my pressure work did nothing on him or he recovered during the break.” Thought Crash, quickly blocking his head with his guard as he widened his stance, frowning as the punches sliced across and smashed into his guard “Hi punches have become even faster, he knows countering is too dangerous so he’s making up for it now…” 

Binya narrowed his eyes, suddenly skidding to a stop beside him and hopping backwards, keeping his stance up as he bounced on the balls of his feet. Crash exhaled through his nose before turning to face Binya, glaring at him again while raising his left. 

“Okay, I know how to deal with this” he thought, glancing to his coach before looking back at Binya  
Binya glanced from Crash’s left fist to Crash, continuing to hop in place. 

“So he’s decided to start punching…what’s he planning” thought Binya as he suddenly stopped bouncing “Whatever, I’ll just overcome it!”

With that Binya bounced forward only to suddenly leap to the side as Crash’s right pierced through the air towards him, Binya’s eyes widening slightly at the punch, feeling the force from his position. 

“That right straight is dangerous” he thought as he began to move to the left again, only for Crash to send his right diving towards him in an overhead, aiming to take his head right off as he circled. 

When Binya had tried to circle around Kenji in his brawling style, a powerful hook was all it took to knock him out of it. This time Binya raised his guard and skid to a stop, moving the other direction as he felt the powerful right graze across his skin, tearing part of it off as he moved away. 

“So sharp…” thought Binya, ignoring the burn on his arm as he began to circle to the left “but mine are just as sharp!”  
With that his left began to blast along into Crash’s left side, forcing him to raise his guard to block, grasping his right fist tightly as he did. Seeing this, Binya promptly bounced back to his left side to avoid another right straight that sent shockwaves through the air.

“That right straight has an impeccable mixture of sharpness and power” noted Coach while rubbing his jaw “But for all it’s power, it doesn’t matter at all if he can’t hit Binya directly”

Binya smirked as he moved out of the way of another right straight, before suddenly lunging right in and swinging his left up to slam into his chin in an uppercut, sending Crash’s head flying backwards as he stumbled somewhat. 

“That one got him!” exclaimed Zee while shaking his fist in excitement  
“First clean hit he landed, and this entire round he has barely been hit” said Koji with a smile “He’s beginning to win”

Crash quickly regained his ground before firing a right straight at Binya as he lunged in, but Binya leaned forward and moved directly under the fist, rising up beside it and swinging a full left hook at his unprotected jaw.

WHAM

The punch smashed in cleanly, the force rebounding across Crash’s head, his vision going blurry as he collapsed to his knees and leaned back against the ropes, blinking rapidly.

“Down! Yimikazi, to your neutral corner!” ordered the referee while getting between Crash and Binya 

Binya grinned and raised his fists up, earning a cheer from the crow as he got back to his corner. Crash stayed staring at the ceiling blankly, his ears deaf to the referee’s count for a few moments, before he blinked, snapping out of his trance.

“FOUR!”

“Four count already!? Shit!” yelled Crash as he leaned against the ropes and forced himself up onto his feet, shaking his head to try and clear it, but even so, the entire ring felt like it was spinning, and the referee’s voice sounded very wobbly. 

Shutting his eyes for a moment, he opened then slowly and took a stance again, focusing on the referee as his vision went back to normal. 

“I can still fight” he said bluntly

The referee looked to Crash’s eyes for a moment, before nodding and waving for the fight to continue. Binya smirked and hopped off the corner post while slamming his fists together. 

“Bet you’ve never been hit by a counter before huh?” thought Binya as his grin grew “I’m going to have to introduce you to some more”

Crash glanced at Binya before looking to his right fist once again, clenching it slowly. He was knocked down, he expected to be hit but not to be countered. So that’s why so many people fall to counters, it felt as if he was leaving his body and rising up to whatever was past this life. Either way, even if he had to sacrifice a down, his plan was still working. 

Binya took his stance and was about to start moving when he heard the gong ring. 

“Back to your corners!” ordered the referee to both fighters. 

Binya sighed in disappointment and walked back to his corner, while Crash went back to his own, rubbing his head with his right hand while his left stayed by his side. 

“Mission accomplished Coach!” exclaimed Binya as he plopped down in his stool  
“Don’t get overconfident” snapped Coach while offering him some water to rinse “Don’t go in gungho, stick to the style you’ve been using until he’s tired, then go in and go for the kill.” Instructed Coach before frowning “…and watch out for his left”

Binya blinked somewhat at that but nodded.

“yeah sure, the basics I know” he said with a nod before giving him a thumbs up “I got this”

In the audience Zee was smiling quite a bit, but Kojo had a deep frown on his face. 

“Something feels very wrong” muttered Kojo  
“eh? Didn’t Crash go down in this round?” asked Koji “Yimikazi’s at an advantage yeah?”  
“Maybe so” said Kojo before glancing to Zee and Koji “but I noticed something. Crash never threw his left once” 

Zee blinked at that, his smile slowly fading. 

“And remember that right straight he threw at the beginning of the match? The one that burnt Binya’s face? His right has been much slower and not as strong now” said Kojo “he was storing power in his right fist since the start of the match and unleashed it all at once…yet, he’s not been using his left at all”

Zee’s eyes widened as he began to understand. For the past 6 minutes at least Crash had been storing energy into his left hand. It’d explain why he always used his right. 

“If he get’s hit by a charged up left…” muttered Koji   
“He’d be in big trouble” finished Kojo

Zee swallowed nervously and looked down at the ring, noting Crash’s clenched left fist as he smirked towards the grinning Binya. 

“Binya…don’t fail on me now” thought Zee, clenching his fists tightly.


	13. Burning Left and Crashing Right

“SECONDS! OUT!” 

Binya slowly rose up from stool and tapped his knuckles together through his gloves while Crash bit down onto his mouth guard and looked towards Binya.

“Come on Binya, watch his left, watch his left” muttered Zee while gripping his fists tightly

Binya began to bounce on his feet, watching Crash carefully as his bounces increased in tempo. 

“His rhythm is getting faster, he’s coming!” exclaimed Crash’s coach  
Crash nodded to her before raising his fists and suddenly stepping right in towards him.

Binya watched him before suddenly bouncing to his left, dodging a right straight while narrowing his eyes and looking to Crash’s left. 

“Watch his left? He’s keeping it still so he can block my punches” thought Binya as he rained dagger like jabs into Crash’s head, forcing him to block “I think you’re in the wrong here, his danger’s his right. He knows I can easily counter t now if he doesn’t feint, but he’s not feinting now at all…he’s probably goading me into dropping my guard with that so he can hit me with that straight”

Binya continued to move around him in a semi-circle, staying away from his right as he rained jabs onto the left side of his head. Crash’s hand began to shake with each jab he blocked, the blows beginning to make his hand numb. 

“Just wait, a little more…” thought Crash as he glanced to the clock, 2 minutes and 37 seconds left. He had to do it soon. 

Continuing to swing with his right, Binya hopped backwards to dodge, and was about to step right in when Crash stepped in as well, catching Binya unawares and shoulder barging him straight into the corner. 

“Oh crap the corner!” exclaimed Kojo  
“Binya get out of there!” yelled Zee

Binya frowned as he raised his guard, watching Crash as he stood in front of him, blocking his exit. 

“He’s going to try that weird changing angle punch with his right again” thought Binya as he planted his feet and held his guard up at his sides while weaving right and left “That crap won’t work a second time” 

Crash glared at Binya, his eyes focusing as he tightened his left fist and suddenly swung his right towards Binya, aiming at his stomach with a full on straight. Gasping slightly in surprise, Binya leaped back until his back was pressed tightly in the corner. Raising his guard he watched as Crash moved in and began to pound Binya with powerful right straights, each blow making the ropes by Binya shudder as he was slammed into the post with each blow. 

Keeping his guard up, Binya watched Crash through the cracks, biding his time as he watched the straight punch constantly slam right into his guard, his forearms beginning to hurt from the force. 

“They’re helluva lot sharper now that they’re hitting me directly” thought Binya as he narrowed his eyes “But I’ve been punched harder and faster than this. Your punches ain’t shit compared to the ones I fell from before!” 

As Crash began to send his right flying forward once again, Binya suddenly lunged out, his fist whistling towards Crash’s head while moving along his arm. The timing was near perfect, he put his full strength into it. The left counter would knock him down again!... If it hit.

Cocking his elbow, Crash shoved the left away, his left foot sliding back as he clenched his left fist and sent it flying right up at Binya’s chin. 

SMASH

Steam exploded absolutely everywhere across the ring, blood dripping down onto the mat along with two mouth guards. Binya lay sparwled across the post, his eyes blank with blood running from his mouth, a large heavy burn visible along the left side of his face. Crash meanwhile was gripping the ropes and holding his jaw, his head reeling from the blow. 

“He, he got him” muttered Zee, his eyes widened and his jaw agape  
“But Crash got hit too? I couldn’t see what happened it was too fast” muttered Koji

While the referee ordered Crash to a neutral corner, he went to check on Binya to see if he was still conscious or responsive. However, he blinked as he noticed something along Binya’s neck before shaking his head. 

“Slip!” he announced

“What!?” exclaimed Crash’s coach, wide eyed

Crash frowned as he shut his eyes and exhaled, clenching and unclenching his left fist while rubbing his arm somewhat, he stayed silent but he knew what had happened.

When he had thrown that full force south paw left uppercut, Binya had moved his head to the side while firing off a left hook at his temple to counter. Neither of them were fast enough to dodge completely, Binya’s punch had struck the side of his head just after Crash’s punch grazed him and he ended up slamming his jaw with his arm. 

This was all displayed on the screens as a slow motion replay was revealed to the audience. Coach watched from his position while nodding slowly, had Binya not leveled up his speed, that punch would’ve shattered his jaw entirely. Binya opened one eye as the referee shook his shoulders slightly. 

“Hey…did I lose?” asked Binya quietly while leaning his head up  
“No, Yimikazi, can you continue?” asked the referee 

Binya nodded slowly before picking up his mouth guard and putting it in his mouth. The referee nodded and moved away from him.

“Walk towards me” he instructed

Binya looked to him, but got to his feet, ignoring the feeling of his knees wobbling as he moved towards the referee with his fists raised. Looking to Binya for a moment, he nodded before signaling for the match to continue. 

Crash frowned before forcing himself off the corner post and moving towards him. Even if the punch hadn’t ended Binya like Crash thought it would, it sealed off Binya’s footwork for now, he won’t be bouncing around anymore. 

And now Crash was finally able to use his left freely. 

Binya frowned at Crash, before gesturing for him to come on, spreading his feet wide as he got ready for him. 

“So you want to slug it out huh?” thought Crash, before suddenly letting his left blast out to slam into Crash’s nose multiple times, the hard jab hitting him from mid range, just outside of Binya’s reach “Tough shit. I’m not going to give you a chance!”

Binya was sent reeling from the punches, his burns stinging each time they were hit. Frowning Binya tried to hop backwards, but all he managed was a small stumble, moving right back into the ropes. Crash however didn’t let up, moving in and ramming in home with his left, pummeling Binya over and over with his jabs. Soon Binya tried to swing at Crash’s head with a desperate over hand counter, but Crash back stepped to dodge, before slamming in with more lefts, sending Binya’s head skywards with a powerful left uppercut. 

Binya growled and tried his best to counter, but Crash mixed in feints every few punches, and each time he tried to counter, he’d be punished severely with heavy left blows to the burns and body. By the end of it, Binya was forced to turtle up and block the left punches, his body shuddering as the lefts rained in home, before eventually the referee grasped Crash by the waist and puled him away.

“Hideyoshi can’t you hear the bell!? Back to your corner!” snapped the referee

Crash nodded but glanced down to the crouching Binya, noting all the burns on his body. 

“Give up, you can barely stand on your own two feet” said Crash with a sneer “that punch would’ve knocked your head off if it hit, you can barely eve stand now”

Binya was quiet for a moment before lowering his hands and chuckling. 

“You seem to forget. I countered that” said Binya as he stood up straight and looked over to Crash

Crash blinked before suddenly nearly collapsing, his knees shaking vigorously and his face turning purple as all the damage and exertion hit him at once. No wonder the counter didn’t knock him down like it had last time, he barely felt it because he didn’t register it. 

“A delayed counter punch” muttered Kojo  
“A delayed counter…?” asked Koji while blinking and looking over to him  
“When someone is counter punched, it’s not just physical damage it’s mental damage that hits as well, being punched when instinctively don’t expect makes the punch hurt all the more” explained Zee as he looked to the ring “but he didn’t feel its full effect because the counter hit him that fast”  
“Hmn…wow” muttered Koji as she continued to write things down

While it was true that Binya’s plan to wait for Crash to feel the full effects of over exertion and the counter to his charged up punch, Binya had still just taken multiple lefts that snapped him into and out of consciousness. While he was acting high and mighty now as he calmly sat down on his stool. 

“Coach?” asked Binya while looking up to him, Coach preparing some ice for his burns  
“Yeah?” he asked, pressing ice to the burns and allowing soothing relief from the stinging pain  
“I can’t feel my jaw, is it broken?” he asked while leaning forward

Coach blinked and frowned slowly at that.

“Try and touch your tongue to the bottom of your mouth. Can you do that?” he asked him while he put the ice packs away

Binya was silent for a moment before he hook his head slowly. 

“I can’t feel it Coach” he muttered quietly   
“Then yeah, it’s broken” muttered Coach before gripping Binya’s cheek “Do you want to keep fighting? If Crash finds out, and he continues to punch it, it could lead to a terrible accident”

Binya frowned slowly but shook his head. 

“Don’t go telling me that kinda stuff coach” he said with a frown “I’m not losing, even if I broke my fists”   
“That’s what I like to hear” said Coach while grasping Binya’s gloved hands “You think you can still use your footwork?”  
“Not as much as before” he said while frowning “the best I can do is step in and out by this point I think”

Coach nodded slowly. 

“Right now Crash is probably trying to recover from the cyanosis and damage caused by that barrage of lefts and the counter” said Coach as he glanced to Crash and his coach “The best you can do is slug it out in an in fight, mid range is his best range so never back down unless you can move a long distance away”

Binya nodded a bit before shutting his eyes and exhaling through his nose. 

“I think I’m going to use it this round” said Binya while clenching his fists tightly “I need to end it soon”  
“don’t focus on ending it as soon as possible. Focus right now on not going down and scoring another down on him” he said “In order to do that, be hit as least as possible, especially to your jaw, and make sure to hit him even more. Offence and defense. You need to focus both. Do you understand what to do?”

“Stay in an infight or move out of his range, focus on offense and defense, try not to get hit in the jaw and don’t go down” he recited with a nod  
“Good” said Coach while nodding to Binya 

“SECONDS OUT!” declared the announcer

Binya stood up and pushed his mouth guard into his mouth, while looking to Crash who glared right back at him. 

“Offence and defense, offence and defense” thought Binya while raising his fists up

Crash glared at Binya, clenching his left fist tightly before firing off his lefts towards Binya. Binya blinked and raised his guard, the fist slamming into his guard and leaving a harsh burn on his arms. 

“This burning left, it’s so fast and sharp it literally burns my skin” thought Binya as he endured the lefts and began to push forward into Crash, ignoring the burning lefts that burnt into his arms. 

From that distance there was nothing he could do but block and move forward. If he had to desperately push himself forward through the wall of flames to reach his chance. So he continued to push forward, enduring the lefts as he tried to grasp for the hope in sight. He still had a chance, he just needed to get close!

As Crash pulled his fist back for another jab, Binya lunged right in and swung a left hook at Crash’s body for the first time that match, his fist digging straight into Crash’s ribs and making him wince while gritting his teeth slowly. 

“You sonova bitch!” snapped Crash before suddenly firing a burning left and nearly catching him across the cheek, only being stopped by Binya raising his right hand and catching the fist in his palm, pushing the fist away and swinging an uppercut up at Crash’s jaw, making his head fly up before he stood his ground and suddenly lunged in, firing his left at his jaw. 

Binya blinked and raised his guard up to his jaw, only to feel a harsh piercing burn as Crash uppercut Binya’s stomach, following it up with a left straight towards Binya’s forehead, but Binya narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, narrowly dodging the punch while swinging an uppercut up into Crash’s jaw, catching him unawares with the counter and sending him stumbling into the ropes.

“Now’s my chance!” he thought as he lunged in and swung his left up at Crash’s body in an uppercut, but Crash side stepped, dodging the blow while circling around Binya, firing burning jabs towards Binya’s head at a much faster rate, forcing Binya to leap backwards 

Crash immediately moved forward, firing his lefts at Binya, but Binya slapped the first left away and fired a left straight between Crash’s eyes, and following it up with a right straight, steam flying off of Crash’s face as Binya bent his knees and pushed cleanly into Crash, their shoulders pressed tightly together as Binya tried to push into the larger man. 

“An infight?” muttered Zee “but Binya’s a middle to out range boxer, why’s he trying to go for an infight when he obviously can’t match Crash when it comes to strength?”  
“Two reasons” said Kojo as he watched and raised two fingers “He can’t use his footwork effectively, so he has no choice but to go into an infight, and he’s noticed that Crash has yet to use his right”   
“So…he knows that Crash is saving up his punch again” muttered Zee   
“In order to use such a large punch you need room for ample wind up, something you can’t do that close” said Kojo “and even so, the only punches you can use in such close quarters are hooks and uppercuts, relying on your waist and feet to provide that type of power. From what I’ve seen, Crash is at his best in midrange because his basic non-charged attacks are minute waist movement and more the twist of his punches, excluding the uppercut ofcourse” 

“So that’s why Crash is a straight puncher, but even if you were a straight puncher you can’t use those punches effectively at that close a range.” Muttered Zee “Binya’s at an advantage here!”

Crash’s eyes widened and he tried to back up, but when he did Binya stepped right into him again and twisted his hips, firing an uppercut clean into his stomach and almost making him retch before swinging a desperate left hook and catching Binya across the face. Binya blinked at that, feeling no burning sensation what so ever, before lashing in with a right hook to Crash’s jaw, the blow being stopped by his right fist before he tried to step back once again. 

Binya repeatedly stepped in and fired another powerful left uppercut into Crash’s stomach, his legs tensing and hips turning as he swung in a right hook and smashed it into Crash’s right arm once again. He had spent months walking about with weights on his ankles, it didn’t just leave him feeling lighter. His calves, his thighs, his hips, all of the muscles had strengthened from his training, allowing him to throw powerful blows at close range. 

“Like this!” he thought as he rammed a right uppercut into Crash’s stomach, the blow forcing him back and into the corner post. 

Crash blinked, looking at his position before looking back to Binya as he raised his fists up, blocking his exits. Now the tides had turned, Binya was the one trapping Crash in the corner. Crash snarled before leaning forward and shoving Binya with his left hand, sending him stumbling backwards and quite a distance away, but immediately Binya went in low and stepped in again, firing hooks and uppercuts into his stomach again and again and again, making Crash wince in pain each time. 

“GET OFF OF ME!” yelled Crash as he suddenly hooked his arm in and shoved Binya so hard he nearly fell over, but he stood his ground and began to rush in

“…wait a second” muttered Zee as he leaned in “He’s entering a pattern”  
“Crash?” asked Koji  
“No…Binya!” 

Binya pressed in and began to slam more hooks and uppercuts in, the blows sending steam flying past the corner post as Crash rresisted the urge to retch, and shoved Binya back again. 

“Each time he shoves Binya back” muttered Zee as Binya spread his stance and went low “Binya get’s low, and steps right in…”  
“Which gives Crash enough time for a wind up, and gives him time to fire…” muttered Kojo

“His right” thought Crash’s coach. “Binya you pushed Crash to the edge, and you survived his charged up burning left earlier. But now you’re going to deal with his right. The force of your momentum will come crashing down, that’s the full power, of his Crashing Right!”

BOOM

Crash’s right uppercut smashed straight into Binya’s head and Binya was sent flipping backwards before he landed on his back, his eyes wide and blank as he stared up at the lights, blood dripping from his forehead. 

“Sh, shit!” snapped Coach while slamming his fist into the matt “BINYA!”


	14. The conclusion to the battle

Binya lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling as blood ran from the forehead into his hair. As Crash began to walk to his corner, he frowned slowly and flexed his hand as he went to the corner. 

“I was aiming to hit his jaw but missed and hit his freaking forehead” he thought as he looked back to Binya as the referee counted “But I hit him full on, that bastard should be down for good by now” 

Binya stared at the ceiling still, his vision wobbling somewhat and his forehead feeling he got domed with a sledgehammer. But unlike last time, he hadn’t blacked out, he was still conscious, just groggy as all hell. 

“Okay, one step at a time, get up” he thought as he slowly rolled onto his hands and knees and shook his head, blood dripping down from his forehead to the ring.

“What the, such a massive blow yet he managed to get up…?” asked Koji in disbelief  
“Binya stood up from harder blows before” replied Zee, remembering the final exchange of blows between Binya and Kenji   
“That, and Crash hit Binya here” added Koji while pointing to his forehead “The hardest part of the head, It’d be a shock for sure but it’d stop him from being knocked out completely. If anything, with such a giant swing, Crash’s right fist should be hurting more, maybe even broken” 

Binya’s limbs shook as he slowly pushed himself up, looking to Crash with a smirk. Crash glared right back, but he couldn’t hide the fact that his body was covered in sweat. 

“How the hell can he get up…” thought Crash as Binya slowly got up and into a wide stance, raising his fists in a peekaboo style, the blood now running between his eyes down his nose and onto the tip of his gloves. 

Crash growled and slowly stood up, raising his hands in his stance as well. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to use his crashing right anymore, his fist hurt beyond belief, it might even be broken. He’d have to have his coach check, but he glanced over to the clock. One minute left? Jesus. 

Even if he managed to knock Binya down, there was no way of knowing he’d stay down. Binya had hit him more, much more, and they had both gone down once. In terms of points Binya is in the lead, if Crash didn’t knock him down or beat him into submission he can’t win. No, he won’t win. 

And Ms.Kina would possibly die. 

Crash growled and gripped his fists tightly. He had announced it in the changing room, he would do whatever it took to win, whatever it took. 

Binya began to step in, but Crash stepped in aswell, catching Binya off guard as the two slammed their shoulders into each other. 

“So you want to slug it out at close range huh? That’s fine by me, makes it easier to see you” thought Binya as he swung a left uppercut at Crash’s jaw, but Crash leaned back at the last second before firing a right hook towards his nose. 

Binya however leaned back slightly while narrowing his eyes. 

“Your infighting is sub par compared to mine, your body isn’t built for that!” thought Binya “Your hooks are slow and easy to re-“ 

WHAM

Binya was sent stumbling back as something hard slammed into his cheek, blinking. That…was not a gloved punch he felt, looking back to Crash he saw him lunge in and swing another hook towards him, this one passing right in front of Binya’s face again as he leaned back. Okay, he dodged It this time, now –

WHAM

Binya saw it clearly this time, Crash’s elbow hit his cheek hard and sent his head flying back, blood flying from his mouth. 

“Elbowing!?” thought Binya as Crash went in for another hook. 

Growling, rather than dodging Binya raised his guard up to block high, expecting a hook to come. Instead Crash stepped back, the hook having been a feint, and fired a left straight that punched straight through the crack of Binya’s guard, burning across his right cheek as Binya stepped back. 

“He’s starting to use fouls that bastard” thought Binya as he took his widened stance again, feeling the blunt pain from the elbow and the burn from the straight “Each time I dodge that hook he goes for an elbow, so he’s going to lead with that the next time I go in.” 

Binya suddenly lunged in again, and as expected, Crash began to swing his right hook again, but Binya moved in even more, moving into Crash as he tried to swing the uppercut, and swung a punch straight into Crash’s ribs, the attack producing a faint cracking noise as Crash backed up, grimacing slightly. 

“I got good feedback on that. Again!” thought Binya as he rushed in once again, going as low as he did before, preparing to swing into his ribs, but as he swung, his back foot would suddenly get stomped on, and immediately Binya’s rush was halted. 

Crash grinned down at Binya, before swinging a left uppercut into his guard, forcing him to back up. 

“Is the referee not seeing this!?” thought Binya as he glanced to the referee and then to Coach “No…I’m the only one who can see this, he’s being much more subtle now, I bet if I watched this fight on a tape I wouldn’t see it either, how long has he been doing this?...No, it doesn’t matter, what matters is I overcome this. It’s just another style of Boxing. His Fouling style.”

“Binya what’re you doing!? Pay attention in front of you!” snapped Coach as Crash began to rain in sharp and heavy burning lefts, the flaming weapon thrusting at him multiple times and forcing Binya to begin to sway side to side to dodge them. 

“I’ve finally learnt the rhythm of that damn left of yours, and I could counter it if I want to but, what if he has another trap waiting for me. He could step on my foot as I go in to counter and it could possibly break my ankle all together. No, if I go for a counter it can’t be for those lefts, the risk is too great for such little pay off” he thought as he looked to Crash’s clenched right “I’ll aim to counter his Crashing Right. If I can do that it should put him out for good. For now I need to bide my time and wait for him to use it” 

As he finalized his plan in his mind, Crash suddenly stepped forward and punched cleanly into Binya’s gut, making him freeze and bend over in pain. As he did, Crash raised his right fist above them both and spread his legs, his eyes focusing on Binya even more as he did. 

“The Crashing Right as an over head!?” thought Binya as he raised his fists up, before blinking “Wait, up to now his rights have never been overheads, they’ve been…” 

Binya leaped back as Crash fired a right uppercut, the wind flying across the ring from the force. As the uppercut went up, Binya tried to lunge in again, but Crash lowered his arm in such a way that his elbow was directly in Binya’s path, making him slam head first into it before Crash punched him away with a burning left straight to the cheek. 

Binya panted somewhat as he stood his ground again and watched him. Infighting was where Binya was at his biggest advantage, with no way for Crash to adequately make a form of offense. But now that Crash’s elbows have come into play, this is completely different, he had sealed off Binya’s main advantage, leaving him with his half recovered legs, burns and cut on his forehead. 

“Okay then” he thought as he began to bounce slightly in place “I’m going to have to bide my time until my legs recover, and watch out for his damn elbows” 

Crash glared at him and was about to fire his burning left when the gong rang. Sighing, Binya dropped his guard and began to turn away from Crash. 

WHAM

Binya felt his jaw cracking even more as Crash’s left crushed into the bone, sending his face flying to the left. 

“Hideyoshi!” snapped the referee while Binya gripped his jaw and grimaced slowly  
“I couldn’t stop, not my fault he didn’t dodge it” replied Crash as he went back to his corner 

The referee frowned slowly and looked to Binya, but Binya was already walking back to his corner and plopped down in his stool.

“The fucking referee is blind” growled Binya while narrowing his eyes  
“Calm down, is your jaw okay?” asked Coach as he began to fix up the cut on his head “And how do you feel after the down?”  
“Wobbly” sighed Binya while tapping his heel and then his toes into the ground over and over “I think my legs have recovered”   
“Good, make sure to use them” said Coach “and duck next time he throws those hook to elbow feints” 

Binya blinked before nodding, of course Coach would notice, he’s not a rookie second, he must’ve seen it the moment he started throwing those weak hooks. 

“So other than ducking, what do I need to do?” asked Binya

Coach thought for a moment. 

“Let me explain then” he began

On the other side of the ring, Crash was holding his right fist while grimacing, his Coach frowning while crouching down near his fist. 

“It’s broken” said Coach while looking to Crash  
“I know” he said while letting go of his hand “that’s why I started to use my elbow, but-“ muttered Crash   
“You can’t use your crashing right with your elbow because if you do you’ll be disqualified” she said before gripping his shoulders “you need to get him into the corner and use your burning left in a southpaw style, okay?”

Crash looked to her before nodding. 

“Yeah, I got it” he said 

“SECONDS, OUT!” 

Crash rose up and put his mouth guard in his mouth, biting down on it. He needed to save Ms. Kina, no matter what it took. Binya exhaled through his nose and bit onto his mouth guard, adjusting the other half with his glove before taking a stance and beginning to bounce up and down, shifting his weight from his toes to his heels and back to his toes while narrowing his eyes.

Suddenly both boxers stepped right into each other, Crash getting ready to go for an infight again, but Binya’s left suddenly whistled into his vision, forcing him to block it with the palm of his left hand. 

“He’s not going to go into close range again? Fine by me, middle range is my best range anyway!” thought Crash as he swung a left straight towards Binya, only for Binya to bounce to his right and lash out with multiple lefts of their own. 

“Those burning lefts are still good, even with him lacking the stamina to do any big moves right now” thought Binya as he swayed back to avoid a left straight, and hopped backwards as he advance, sending more lefts his way “like Coach said, his left is going to be more dangerous than his right in this round”

Binya suddenly ducked under a left and seemed to step in, about to counter, but Crash cocked his elbow directly above Binya’s head, making him flinch and back off, immediately gaining a left to the nose in response. Frowning, Binya moved in with his left yet again, the duo exchanging fast lefts as they moved across the entire ring, sweat dripping from their bodies and peppering the canvas.

“You were right on the money when you said that Crash hurt his hand, he’s not using it here at all” said Koji while she pointed to it’s unclenched state “and I don’t think he’s charging another crashing right either”  
“No, but for some reason Binya’s not going in for a counter” muttered Zee while resting his chin on his hand “If he did, it’d be over”  
“You mean you didn’t see?” asked Kojo in surmised while looking to them both “he feinted a foul, he cocked his elbow to Binya the last time he tried to step in for a counter, Crash effectively blocked the entire close range around him”

Koji stared at him before looking down to the notebook while writing it down. 

“Amazing” she muttered under her breath as she wrote

Down at the ring, Binya quickly side stepped a left, but blinked as Crash turned to face him, his right fist raised up and swinging down at him in a massive chopping right that sent shockwaves through the air as it swung. 

“Even if his fist is actually broken, I can’t take that!” thought Binya, leaping back into the corner as Crash’s arm twisted to through an extended uppercut at him as he back stepped, the tip of his glove brushing his jaw, making him wince even more before he pressed hi back into the corner. 

Crash saw this and smirked slowly while standing in front of him, taking a southpaw stance as he blocked his path. 

“Each time I cornered you the advantage was clearly mine” thought Crash as Binya watched him with his guard up “Let me show you why.”

Crash suddenly stepped right in and swung a right hook which grazed across Binya’s guard, before Crash suddenly grasped the guard with his arm. 

“What!?” exclaimed Binya as Crashed wrenched it open and suddenly slammed his left fist clean into stomach, making him bend over in agony before he managed to recover and lean back into the post “you bastard.”  
“It’s kill or be killed, don’t whine to me!” snapped Crash as he swung a left straight at Binya’s guard again, the force knocking him deeper into the corner.

He wasn’t going to let him escape this time, he was going to keep punching and punching Binya until he couldn’t stand anymore, even if it ended with him breaking his other fist, he was going to win!

With that he suddenly lay in home with multiple one two combos, slamming his fists into Binya’s guard, his arms shuddering with each punch he sent into him. 

“There’s no way he has a broken fist if he can punch like that!” thought Binya as he felt his guard begin to weaken under the multiple blows “come on, i need to wait a few more seconds, be patient-“ 

Crash’s right fist suddenly smashed into his open stomach, making him wince and lower his guard slightly, earning a left straight right to the nose once again, sending his head back somewhat before he recovered with his guard and crouched down significantly. 

Crash just smiled more and continued to pound his fists into Binya from above, hitting his guard and soon breaking it over and over again. Binya frowned as he stayed in this position, gritting his teeth but waiting silently. 

“Now.” He though tas suddenly he hopped to the right.

Crash blinked, his fist going through air as Binya leaned against the left ropes of the corner, his guard lowering down. Growling, Crash fired a left at him, but Binya moved to the right now, bouncing from rope side to rope side, getting faster and faster as Crash tried to punch at him, while growling.

“The hell is he doing!? Why can’t I hit him!?” thought Crash as he fired his burning left to try and hit him, but no matter how fast he punched Binya continued to shift between the ropes, his eye watching him as he blurred around in front of him, Crash staring as Binya moved faster and faster between the ropes, before suddenly his left fist flashed out and smashed clean into Crash’s jaw, the bone crunching under his fist as Binya skid out from the corner, panting ever so slightly while Crash collapsed down against the ropes, gripping it tightly while looking to him, his legs shaking slightly. 

“He…he took it and he’s still standing…” stuttered Coach in disbelief before slamming his fists into the mat “BINYA DON’T GIVE HIM TIME RECOVER!”

Binya nodded and span to face Crash, who was still trying to recover from his daze.

“The hell was that…, it was almost like…” muttered Crash

Binya suddenly lunged in to try and attack him, but Crash suddenly swung out with a wild backfist, forcing Binya to back off while Crash leaned into the ropes and raised his fists up in stance, glaring at him. 

Binya lunged in again, beginning to swing multiple punches at him in a combination, forcing Crash to pull up his guard up and lean into the ropes, enduring the heavy blows to the body and head while gritting his teeth together. 

“You mother fucker- YOU MOTHER FUCKER!” screamed Crash as he suddenly rushed out and slammed a right hook into Binya’s jaw, his eyes widening somewhat from the pain and surprise, before he was brought back to reality by Crash’s right fist slamming into his face

Binya immediately retaliated by slamming an uppercut into his cracked jaw, the bone crunching under his fist and sending blood from the corner of Crash’s mouth. Crash yelled out in pain but immediately lashed out with another right straight, this one twisting in a corkscrew blow and sending Binya’s head flying back wards, making him stumble. 

“In terms of power he still has the advantage, but I’m still faster” thought Binya as he began to bounce on the balls of his feet “speed, speed, take advantage of my speed!”

With that he suddenly began to bounce around in a semi-circle in front of Crash, his hands blurs as his fists began to slam into Crash from all angles on all sides in front of him, sending steam billowing off from behind him as he blocked as many as he could with his cross arm block. 

“You little shit, you think that I’ll let it end here!?” snapped Crash before suddenly lashing out with his left and slamming it into Binya’s left fist as he went for a straight, the force knocking Binya’s left hand backwards. 

“What!?” exclaimed Coach in utter surprise  
“He saw through his movements, his body must’ve learnt Binya’s rhythm!” gasped Zee as he leaned forward

With his left hand away, Binya suddenly received a powerful burning left straight to the body, the blow piercing into his organs, his legs shaking from the force and beginning to buckle, as if they couldn’t support his body anymore. 

“No more of your bouncing shit!” snarled Crash as he smashed his right into Binya’s right guard, the force sending Binya’s right hand flying aswell, leaving his face wide open. 

“GO TO HEEEEEEEEELLL!” he roared as his right fist soared forward towards Binya’s face, Crash’s face twisted into a snarl as he threw the finishing blow  
“BINYA!” yelled Zee at the top of his lungs “COUNTER IT!”

Binya’s eyes flashed behind the locks of his unraveled hair, and he tensed up his legs, sliding his right one back as he put the last ounce of his strength into them to keep him up, he needed to try, one last time. 

SMASH

Steam exploded across the ring and the force of the punch made it shake vigorously. As the steam faded, the scene was finally revealed, Crash stood with his eyes completely blank, staring up at the sky with Binya’s fist pressed into his jaw. Binya meanwhile was staring at the floor his mouth gaurd falling from his mouth with Crash’s right fist pressed into his temple. 

“He went to counter…but wasn’t fast enough” muttered Crash’s coach as the two boxers stayed still “it became a dual exchange”  
“But it’s over now, I don’t think either of them could fight” sighed Coach while shaking his head 

As Coach had thought, the referee decided to end the match their, the simultaneous hit at the end having been enough to had knocked them both out. After they were both awoken and looked at by the doctor, Binya and Crash sat in their respective corners, Binya covered in a robe and clenching his fists together while Crash stood with his eyes shut, his fists gripped tightly.

The fight couldn’t be decided by ko, now it was up to the judges. 

“Who do you think won?” asked Koji to Kojo

Kojo was rubbing his chin slowly before he sighed and shook his head.

“Iunno, they both had the advantage multiple times through the different rounds” muttered Kojo before he glanced to Zee, who was leaning forward and grasping his knees so tightly his knuckles were slightly white. 

Soon the referee took judges scores before going to the middle of the ring with a microphone. As he did, the excited crowd hushed down and both boxers looked towards the referee silently. 

“The scores od the judges have been calculated and we have reached a conclusion” said the referee, gesturing for Binya and Crash to come to the centre of the ring.

Frowning, Binya glanced to Coach before looking to the audience, where he had heard Zee yelling. For a moment they saw each other, and Zee gave him a thumbs up, making Binya smile and nod before confidently walking over to the referee. Crash meanwhile had his hands clenched and his lips in a deep frown, his heart beating in his chest and sweat forming along the palms of his hands. He didn’t expect things to go to the judges, he had planned to end it with Binya unable to move. If the judges had caught the elbows and the use of his hands on Binya’s guard, he’d be done for.

“Please. Please…” he thought while shutting his eyes and leaning his head back to the ceiling.

Soon enough, the two reached the centre of the ring and the referee grasped both of their wrists, looking between them both. Crash didn’t dare open his eyes and Binya lowered his head somewhat while shutting his eyes. To Binya it felt like an eternity as the referee gripped his wrist. His mind was filled with doubts and fear. Did he lose again? Was the curse still as strong as ever?

He got his answer when he heard a cheer around the crowd. 

Blinking, Binya and Crash looked to the referee, before looking up to see both of their fists were raised. It was a draw! 

“I..i didn’t lose, but I didn’t win either” thought Binya as he stared, dumbfounded   
“I...still have a chance at saving her…” thought Crash while gripping his fists tightly “half the fight money…its still so far away, her cure…”

A few minutes later, Binya sat in the changing room, bandages across his face as the doctor looked him over. 

“yeah, you broke the right side of your jaw it seems, it’ll take a while to heal. But other than that, and the burns on your face, you’re fine” said the doctor  
“thanks doc” said Binya with a nod to him

The doctor nodded before leaving, taking his doctor’s bag with him. 

“Well, you didn’t lose” said Coach while looking to Binya “how do you feel?”

Binya looked to him before looking down at his hands and clenching them slowly. 

“I dunno…” he sighed while shaking his head “I tried my hardest, and I thought I’d win”  
“look at it this way, you didn’t lose eh?” asked Kabuki while getting up from the bench “stop it with your sulking crap or I’ll kick your ass when I get back from my match”

Binya glanced up at him before snorting and clicking his neck.   
“that is if you don’t get your ass kicked in the ring” he replied with a snarky grin  
“Like I’d get beaten up like you” sneered Kabuki as he looked to the door “welp, time for me to go, seeyas”

With that, he strolled out with Coach and the others following along, leaving Binya alone to watch the match on the TV next to him. While he watched though, his mind was still set on the match. Looking back on it now, the details seemed somewhat fuzzy to him, what he could remember the most was the rebounding between corner ropes and hitting him with the hook, to be honest it was meant to be a counter, but Crash had stopped punching, so it was just a powerful hook instead.

And then after that, the exchange of hits at the ropes, and the simultaneous punch that had knocked them both out. He frowned slowly and shut his eyes as he remembered, had he not attempted to throw that counter, he would’ve been knocked out and Crash would’ve still been standing. He would’ve lost. 

“I guess I should be thankful I didn’t just plain lose” he muttered while rubbing his fist slowly “but I didn’t win either…jeez what the hell.” 

He sighed and leaned his forehead against his clenched fists, he didn’t know exactly what was in the concoction of emotion he was feeling right now, but he knew one thing for certain. He felt, unsatisfied. 

\---

Besides Binya, the matches had been a landslide in his sides favor. Kabuki had beaten his opponent in 3 rounds, having knocked him clean out of the ring with an uppercut to the body, Mashiba meanwhile had defeated his opponent in 9 rounds, ending with barely a scratch on him while his opponent was sent to the hospital. 

“All in all, it was a good night tonight” sighed the Coach while looking between Kabuki and Binya

Binya put his hands in his track suit pockets and shrugged somewhat. 

“I’m goin’ home you can do the celebrations without me” muttered Binya as he eased the door open with his foot  
“you sure? It’s a big thing you know, you didn’t lose” pointed out Kabuki

“I didn’t win either” Said Binya bluntly before leaving and kicking the door shut behind him

While Binya could hear the rumble of footsteps as people went out from the stadium, chattering in excitement about the matches they witnessed, Binya himself felt like he was alone in stark solitude again, frowning while glancing to the floor. He wanted to win, not have a draw. Even if anyone told him otherwise, to him, it was still nothing more but a loss with a different name. 

His inner thoughts were cut off suddenly when someone gripped his shoulder tightly.

“Kabuki, I already said im going-“ began Binya as he turned, but stopped when he saw Crash looking down at him, a heavy frown on his face.   
“Crash…” he muttered before looking down to the clenched fist at Crash’s side

Frowning, Binya backhanded Crash’s hand off of his shoulder and swiftly took a stance, getting ready for a brawl. Imagine his surprise when Crash suddenly went down on his hands and knees and pressed his forehead into the floor. 

“Yimikazi…I beg you, I need your half of the fight money!” he exclaimed loudly  
Binya stared at him blankly, unsure how to react to this.   
“What..?” he managed to mumble  
“Someone I truly care about is in the hospital right now, I need to get the medicine to save her and I needed the fight money to do that, that’s why…that’s why I did what I did!” he yelled

Binya stared down at him silently, frowning while lowering his hands.

“I had no choice, you were too good” said Crash quietly while he shivered somewhat “I would’ve loved to fight you fair and square, but I had no choice- I had-“ 

Binya interrupted Crash by crouching down near him and grasping his hair, lifting his head up so that he looked at his face. 

“Hideyoshi” he said while staring at him “this is the world of boxing, even if you lose, you can’t come begging to your opponent…but you know that don’t you…”

Binya sighed and stood up, handing him an envelope from his jacket “here.”

Crash stared for a moment before beginning to tear up and lowering his head.

“than, thank you…” he cried quietly while rubbing his eyes 

Binya waved his hand slightly while walking towards the exit, his eyes half shut as he listened to Crash’s small cries of relief rebound down the hall.


End file.
